The Tempest of Beacon
by Storm Starshine
Summary: When a girl know as Tempest starts to attend Beacon, strange things begin to happen with Weiss. More importantly, it seem Tempest is at the center of it all. What exactly is Tempest hiding?
1. Prologue

_**Prologue: A Meeting**_

It was a normal day in the city of Vale, all of its citizens going about their daily lives. At one cafe, there was a individual who was different from the rest. The man was wearing a black coat that covered his body, a white hat, and sunglasses. He was sitting down, drinking some coffee and waiting for someone.

"Um, excuse me," a voice called from behind him. The man turned around to see a young girl standing there. The girl was about 18 years old, wearing a cyan jacket, a dark blue shirt, blue jeans, and an old bracelet on her left arm.

"Yes?" the man inquired curiously.

"Um, w-what is the p-password?" the girl responded nervously. The man simply smiled and said, "The snow that falls, shines brightly."

The girl looked surprised, before smiling and sitting down. "I'm surprised that you came, Tempest," the man responded in a cheerful tone.

"I came because I want to make amends," Tempest explained happily.

"I had a feeling that was the case," the man told Tempest in a calm tone, rubbing his forehead.

After a moment of silence, the man said, "I'm sorry."

Tempest was surprised about the man's response. "What are you sorry for?" Tempest inquired curiously.

"You should know," the man responded in a serious tone, looking at the bracelet. Tempest looked down at her bracelet and held her arm close to her chest.

"I understand, but there something that you should know," Tempest explained in a serious tone.

"What is it?" the man responded in a curious tone.

"I've never blamed you, Snow," Tempest told him in a sympathetic tone, grabbing his hand. Snow looked down at the ground and smiled.

"Thank you, you have no idea how happy I am," Snow responded happily. The two sat there and talked for a while, before they both got up.

"You know, I have a few gifts for you," Snow told Tempest in a glad tone.

"You got me gifts?" Tempest responded in a surprised tone.

"Of course, and if you'll follow me, I'll give you your first one," Snow responded in a glad tone.

* * *

After walking for a few minutes, the two of them arrived in front of a house. The house was big, about two floors tall.

"What's this place?" Tempest questioned curiously, looking at the house in awe.

"It's the first gift I got for you," Snow explained happily. Tempest was extremely surprised at the comment and looked back at the house.

"This is for me?" Tempest inquired in amazement. "Yes, now let's head in so I can give you the other gifts," Snow responded in a calm tone.

Snow lead Tempest into the house, which had an amazing interior. The foyer had a big couch, two chairs, a TV, three gaming consoles, and a big table in the center which had two briefcases.

"Wow, this all is for me?" Tempest inquired curiously.

"Yes, and I still have more gifts," Snow responded calmly, walking over to the table. Tempest followed him and noticed a familiar emblem on the cases.

"Snow, are these...?" Tempest questioned cautiously. "Don't worry, these are some I made myself," Snow explained casually.

They reached the table and sat down on the couch. "So, what are these other gifts?" Tempest inquired curiously.

"Well, the first one is this," Snow responded, reaching for the smaller of the two cases.

Opening it, showing Tempest what was inside. It was a rainbow colored brace that glass base. "What's this?" Tempest inquired curiously.

"This is designed for two purposes," Snow replied casually.

"What are these purposes?" Tempest questioned, putting on the bracelet.

"The first is a suppressor for your powers," Snow explained in a intellectual tone. Tempest looked surprised and happy at the explanation.

"The second is weapon storage," Snow continued to explain.

"Weapon storage?" Tempest asked in an excited tone.

"Yes, to be more precise, it can hold up to 10 weapons, which I already put in," Snow explained.

"Really?!" Tempest squealed in joy.

"Yes, you can see them later, but can I ask something?" Snow responded in a calm tone.

"Sure," Tempest said cheerfully.

"Do you have your own weapon, besides the ten I just gave you?" Snow inquired curiously.

"No, never had the time or the money, why do you ask?" Tempest inquired curiously. Snow smiled and reached over to the large briefcase, which he opened. Inside, there was a pair of curved elbow blades.

"These are..." Tempest asked in amazement.

"They were your mother's," Snow responded in a somber tone. Tempest turned to look at Snow, with a stunned look on her face.

"Do you mean..." Tempest questioned, an edge of sadness on her tone. Snow simply stayed silent.

Tempest then did something she hasn't done in years. She started to cry. When Tempest started to cry, Snow moved over to comfort her. She cried for fifteen minutes, before she stopped.

"You going to be OK?" Snow inquired in a sympathetic tone.

"Yes, I'll be fine," Tempest responded, wiping the tears off her face.

"She wanted you to have them," Snow commented in a knowing tone. Tempest looked at Snow with a look of surprise.

"She knew about your problem and modified them," Snow commented calmly.

Tempest then turned and picked up the elbow blades. "What are they called?" Tempest questioned curiously, getting up from the couch.

"She wanted you to name them," Snow responded casually. Moving over to a more open area, she gave the weapon a few swings.

"Well?" Snow asked calmly. Tempest was silent for a moment before saying,

"Frost Edges, in her honor." Snow simply smiled in response. "There any more gifts for me?" Tempest questioned curiously, still holding the Frost edges.

"Yes, actually, if you'll be kind enough to follow me," Snow responded happily, getting up from the couch. Tempest followed Snow into the garage, which had something she didn't expect.

"Did you really get me a motorcycle?" Tempest asked in amazement.

"I did, but this one is special," Snow responded with a happy tone.

"In what way?" Tempest inquired. Snow simply gave her a paper that she read and was surprised by its contents.

"It's not even out for sale yet, this is the first of its kind," Snow explained, patting the motorcycle.

"This is amazing, thank you," Tempest said, smiling.

"I just wanted to make it up to you," Snow told her in a fatherly tone. Tempest looked at him with a playful expression.

"I guess you have some other gifts for me," she said playfully.

"Yes, actually and I think I saved the best for last," Snow told her, grabbing an envelope and some papers from his coat. Grabbing the envelope, she noticed the envelope looked familiar to her.

"There's no way this can be what I think this is," Tempest said to herself, unfolding the papers.

"I had to pull a few strings to get this," Snow said calmly. Reading the papers, they said something that she was hoping for.

 _"Congratulations! You have been invited to attend Beacon Academy!"_

"Thank you, you have no idea how happy I am," Tempest exclaimed, hugging him tightly.

"You're welcome, I just wanted to make you happy," Snow responded. After a few minutes of Tempest being extremely happy, she noticed Snow looking a little sad.

"Are you OK?" she questioned.

"There are two things that are bothering me," Snow responded seriously.

"What is it?" Tempest asked.

"First off, I want you to promise me something," Snow told her. Tempest stayed quiet, letting Snow continue.

"Promise me that, if necessary, you need to reveal your secret," Snow said seriously. Tempest was shocked that he would even suggest that.

"Why?" she questioned, a shocked tone behind her voice.

"The reason is the second thing I'm worried about," Snow explained.

"And that is?" Tempest demanded, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Your younger sister is attending Beacon," Snow said calmly. This made Tempest's anger fade and replaced it with worry.

"She doesn't know about you if that's what you're wondering," he said, taking her hand.

"So that's why you want me to promise," Tempest commented simply.

"Exactly," Snow responded.

"Your sure about this?" Tempest asked.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure," Snow responded.

"OK, I promise", Tempest told him with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Thank you," Snow said, hugging her. After hanging out for an hour, Snow had to depart.

"Can I ask you something?" Snow asked.

"What is that?" Tempest inquired casually.

"Could you say something I've wanted to hear for a while?" Snow responded, rubbing the back of his head.

Smiling Tempest hugged him and said, "I love you dad,"

"I love you too, baby girl," Snow told her. With that, Snow said goodbye and closed the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Tempest's Initiation & An Offer**

A week after her meeting with Snow, Tempest arrived at Beacon Academy for her meeting. "Well, I guess it's time for my meeting," Tempest thought nervously. As she walked towards Beacon, she saw a woman she did not expect to be there. " _Is that who I think it is?_ " Tempest thought, as she walked over to the woman.

"I wonder when this new student is going to arrive," the woman said to herself. When Tempest heard the voice, she immediately smiled. Walking up behind the woman, Tempest tapped her on the shoulder.

"Yes?" the woman asked without turning around.

"It's nice to see you again," Tempest said happily.

" _That voice, it couldn't possibly be,_ " the woman thought in surprise. The woman turned around and saw Tempest standing there. "Tempest, is that you?" the woman asked.

"Yep, it's nice to see you again Ms. Goodwitch," Tempest said happily. The two of women hugged and talked for a little bit.

"Now, if I may ask, why are you here?" Glynda inquired. Remembering why she was here, Tempest got out the letter and showed it to Glynda. After looking over the letter, Glynda looked up in surprise. "So you're the student that I was going to pick up?" Glynda questioned.

"Yes, I got the letter a week ago," Tempest explained.

"Ok, well than if follow me, I'll take you to the headmaster's office. Tempest followed Glynda into the academy and was happy for the future.

After walking through Beacon for a few minutes, the two arrived in front of the headmaster's office. "Wait out here," Glynda told Tempest, heading into the office. Tempest waited outside patiently, until she was called by Glynda. When Tempest stepped in the office, she noticed Glynda standing next to the headmaster.

"You must be Tempest," the headmaster said.

"I am," Tempest responded, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"My name is Ozpin, nice to meet you," he told her.

"It is nice to meet you as well," Tempest said.

"Now, I'm going to get this out of the way right now, you're guaranteed to be accepted," Ozpin explained.

Tempest immediately breathe a sigh of relief when she heard that.

"But, there is a request that both Glynda and myself want to ask," Ozpin told Tempest. Tempest looked at the two of them in curiosity.

"Ok, what does the request entail?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, if you accept, this will be your first mission as a Huntress-in-training," Glynda explained. Tempest was surprised at what Glynda told her. "Do you want to accept?" Glynda asked.

Tempest stayed silent for a moment while she thought about the offer. "I will, but there is something I want to know," Tempest responded.

"If it's about the mission, I'll give you the details later," Glynda explained.

"Well, I might as well," Tempest said.

"Excellent, I hope you'll find it enjoyable," Glynda told Tempest.

"Ok, so what is your request headmaster?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, I want you to complete Glynda's request," Ozpin told Tempest.

"I understand," Tempest said in a disappointed tone.

"You should probably go get ready for the mission, we'll call you when we're ready," Glynda told Tempest. Tempest got up and left the office, heading back to her motorcycle.

After Tempest left the office, Glynda and Ozpin were there in silence until Glynda spoke. "Do you think she'll accept your offer?" Glynda asked.

"I don't know, and, to be honest, I'm a little afraid," Ozpin responded, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Are you worried about the last time?" Glynda asked curiously.

"Yes," Ozpin said simply.

"Don't worry, she'll be different," Glynda told Ozpin in a reassuring voice.

"I hope you're right," Ozpin said. With that, he got up and went to make preparations for Tempest's mission.

Two hours later, Tempest and Glynda were on the deck of a Beacon airship to their destination. The two just finished the mission briefing by Ozpin and were talking about it. "So, can you give me some more details on this camp I'm scouting?" Tempest asked Glynda.

"Not much, just that there has been Grimm activity in the area," Glynda explained.

"Really, that's interesting," Tempest said.

"Yes, you'll need to be on the lookout," Glynda commented.

The two stood in silence for a little until Ozpin came up behind them.

"We'll be landing soon, so get ready," he told them.

"Do you mind if I stay here for a little?" Tempest asked.

"I actually have something to tell you Tempest," Ozpin said.

"Well then, I'll get the things you'll need for your mission ready," Glynda said, leaving Ozpin and Tempest on the deck.

The two stood in silence for a moment as Tempest looked at Ozpin. "What did you need to tell me?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, it has to do with you mission," Ozpin told her.

"This doesn't sound good," Tempest said.

"Actually, it might make it easier for you," Ozpin responded.

"Really?" Tempest questioned.

"Yes, one of Team JNPR's members called me and I told them about the mission," Ozpin explained. Tempest was confused until Ozpin told her that JNPR was one of the new teams that was formed.

"That's good to hear, who is it?" Tempest asked.

"Her name in Pyrrha Nikos," Ozpin told her.

"Ok, then I'll go get ready," Tempest said. She left Ozpin on the deck to his thoughts.

A few minutes later, the airship landed in an open field. When Tempest exited the airship, she noticed a girl sitting under a tree. The girl, noticing the aircraft landing, got up and walked over to where Tempest was. By the time the girl got there, Ozpin and Glynda were exiting the airship.

"Ah, Pyrrha, nice to see you again," Ozpin said.

"Nice to see you as well Headmaster," Pyrrha said as the two teachers.

"I would like you to meet the new student, Tempest," Ozpin told Pyrrha.

"Nice to meet you, Pyrrha," Tempest said, extending her hand.

"Same here," Pyrrha responded, shaking Tempest's hand.

"Now that you two are introduced, I would like to go over the mission with Pyrrha," Ozpin said.

"Ok, I'll talk a little bit with Tempest," Glynda said.

The two groups went apart, Tempest and Glynda going near a tree, while Pyrrha and Ozpin stayed close to the airship. "So, what is the mission exactly?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"Well, there's a lot to explain," Ozpin told her.

"We have time, but try to keep it simple," Pyrrha said.

"Well, it's a recon mission. Don't be lulled be into false sense of security, this might be a challenge. The place you and Tempest are going to be scouting an unknown camp north of here. You're not only going to be scouting the camp, but finding out who is in there and what they are up too. Take pictures of the camp, get information off computers, get surveillance footage, stuff like that. Try to be as stealthy as possible, only fight if necessary. There has also been Grimm readings in the area, so be careful. When you've gathered enough information, return here."

"Sounds simple enough," Pyrrha said.

"Ok, Tempest has the items you'll need for the mission," Ozpin explained.

"Very well, than when do me and Tempest leave?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"When Tempest is ready to go," Ozpin said. The two looked over and saw Tempest and Glynda walking towards them. "I guess that will be now," Ozpin commented, a small smile forming on his face. When Tempest got close enough, Pyrrha saw a look of determination in her eyes.

"I'm ready if you are," Tempest told Pyrrha.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Pyrrha responded.

"Well than good luck you two," Ozpin told the two of them. With that the two headed into the forest, towards Tempest's first mission.

"Do you think they'll succeed?" Glynda asked after Pyrrha and Tempest left.

"I think they will," Ozpin responded happily.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Pyrrha and Tempest were within range of the camp. "We should be arriving soon," Pyrrha said as they stopped.

"Here, a camera for recon photos," Tempest told Pyrrha, giving her a camera.

"Thanks, come on," Pyrrha said, grabbing the camera moving towards the camp.

When they got to the camp, they saw it looked less like a camp and more like a compound. There were empty cages, containers, towers, and a big building near the edge of the compound that the two of them were close too.

"Well, this isn't what I expected," Tempest said, looking over the compound.

"You can say that again," Pyrrha said in amazement. The two looked in awe before getting to work on their mission. Pyrrha took a few pictures of the compound while Tempest was looking for any guards nearby. While looking for guards, Tempest and Pyrrha heard a weird cry.

"What was that?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out, but for now, we need to get inside that building," Tempest responded.

Pyrrha nodded in agreement and the two approached the building. When the two got closer, they noticed that there was a window open. "Come on, we can get in through here," Tempest said, looking in the facility.

Pyrrha kept a watch on the outside and she noticed movement in the forest. "Is the coast clear?" she asked cautiously.

"It is, come on," Tempest said crawling in. Pyrrha climbed in the window, not noticing a pair of glowing red and blue eyes watching her.

Pyrrha and Tempest were now inside the compound, in a hallway. "I don't think anyone is in here," Tempest commented, cautiously looking around.

"Same, something feels off though," Pyrrha said.

"I think we should split up, finish this faster," Tempest responded.

"Sounds like a good plan," Pyrrha said.

"Let's meet back here in 30 minutes," Tempest told her.

"Got it, good luck," Pyrrha said. With that, the two girls split up and went to different parts of the facility.

Tempest arrived in front of a open door, which she found odd as all the other doors she found found were locked. " _Weird, why is this door open?_ " Tempest thought as she entered the room. The room was mostly barren with a computer on one wall and several desks around the room. " _A computer, good, I can hopefully get some information,_ " Tempest thought as she approached the computer. As she started to access the computer, she notice a folder that was labeled "Secret Projects."

"Interesting," Tempest said to herself. She tried to open the file, but saw it required a password. " _Well, that can be solved easily,_ " Tempest thought, quickly getting out her own laptop. Plugging it into the big computer, she started to hack into it.

After a few seconds, she got past the security and downloaded the folder onto her laptop. " _That was somewhat easy,_ " Tempest thought, putting away the back pack. With that, she left the room and continued her search of the facility.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha was looking through various rooms that were unlocked. " _Why are all these rooms unlocked, it's like this place is abandoned,_ " Pyrrha thought. When she came to the next room, she noticed something wrong with the door.

Where the door was supposed to be was a scraped door with claw marks on the side. " _These marks, they look like they came from a Grimm,_ " Pyrrha thought, getting out her weapon Milo. Cautiously entering the room, Pyrrha saw something that surprised her.

The room was a wreck, computers and desks were broken, and there was a hole in the wall. "What on earth happened here?" Pyrrha said to herself, cautiously scouting the room. There was not much left intact, if anything a few chairs and tables were left unscathed.

Just as she was about to leave, Pyrrha noticed two cases on one of the not broken tables. Upon getting closer, she saw there was a piece of paper on top of them. The paper had writing on it, but some of it was unreadable.

 _"Within these cases are materials for Project: ... which is to be started ... Please remember, the items are extremely important so don't let them fall into enemy hands. From, ..."_

There was more writing beyond that, but it was completely illegible. " _Project, what project?_ " Pyrrha thought, as she put away the note. Looking at the two cases, she saw a familiar looking logo on them. " _Hey, isn't this..._ " Pyrrha thought, grabbing the cases. With that, she left the room and went to meet up with Tempest.

The two meet up at where they entered, Tempest noticing Pyrrha carrying two cases.

"What are those?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Some cases I found, don't know what's in them," Pyrrha told Tempest.

"Ok, you ready to head back?" Tempest asked.

"Yes, just help me with the cases," Pyrrha said.

Tempest grabbed one of the cases and helped Pyrrha through the window. Tempest pulled herself through the window and the two walked back to the ship.

After walking for about twenty minutes, the two were within sight of the airship. "Well, I guess that could have gone worse," Pyrrha said.

"I'm glad, I was a little nervous," Tempest told Pyrrha.

"Really?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"To be perfectly honest, I thought something disastrous would happen," Tempest responded. As the two got closer to the airship, they saw Ozpin and Glynda standing on the ramp of the airship.

"Come on, let's go tell them what we found out," Tempest said happily. Pyrrha nodded in agreement and the two headed towards the airship.

A few minutes of later, after the ship took off, Tempest and Pyrrha were in a meeting room with Glynda and Ozpin. "So, what did you find out?" Ozpin questioned curiously.

"Well, to start, it was less of a camp and more of a compound," Pyrrha explained, showing them the pictures she took. Ozpin was silent for a moment as he looked over the pictures.

"Interesting, was there anyone there?" Glynda inquired curiously.

"No one was there, it was like the placed was abandoned," Tempest said.

"Did you find any information concerning who was here?" Ozpin asked curiously.

"Not exactly, but we did find some interesting things," Pyrrha explained, giving them the cases. Ozpin and Glynda both looked at the cases and saw the symbol that was on them.

"This is the Schnee Company logo, where did you get this?" Glynda inquired.

"I found them along with this note," Pyrrha said, giving the note to Glynda. After Glynda read the note, she had a look of curiosity and was lost in thought.

Tempest, meanwhile, had gotten out her laptop and was explaining something to Ozpin. "So, you found some interesting?" Ozpin asked curiously.

"Yes, I took a look on a computer I found and saw something interesting," Tempest explained.

"What did you find?" Ozpin questioned.

"I found a computer and on it was a file labeled Secret Projects, don't know what is in it though," Tempest said, showing Ozpin the file.

"Interesting indeed, may I have a copy?" Ozpin asked, handing Tempest his Scroll.

"Sure, may I ask why?" Tempest responded as she grabbed the Scroll.

"So I can study the contents of the file myself," Ozpin explained.

Tempest nodded her head in understanding as she made a copy of the file and sent it to Ozpin's Scroll. The two stood in silence for a moment, until Tempest gave Ozpin back his Scroll.

"Tempest, may I ask you something?" Ozpin asked as he grabbed the Scroll. After Ozpin said this, Glynda snapped out her train of thought and turned to look at him and Tempest.

"Sure, what is it?" Tempest responded curiously.

"Well, first let me say that you have exceptional talent for a future huntress," Ozpin commented giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"Thank you," Tempest said happily, blushing a little bit.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this so soon," Glynda commented.

"What are you talking about?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"You'll see," Glynda told her, smiling a little bit.

"The thing is, I don't think normal classes would work for you," Ozpin told Tempest.

"So, you want to know if I want to take special classes?" Tempest asked curiously,

"Better, I would like for you to become my personal student," Ozpin responded. Tempest and Pyrrha were surprised by the question.

"Well, would you like to become my student?" Ozpin reiterated nervously.

Tempest stayed silent for a moment before saying, "I would be honored to be your student."

"Thank you, you have no idea how much that means to me," Ozpin told her, before leaving the room.

"Tempest, I'm so happy for you," Pyrrha said happily, hugging Tempest.

"Thanks Pyrrha," Tempest said, returning the hug.

"I'm glad you decided to be his student Tempest," Glynda said.

"I was surprised, but I think it will be a good opportunity," Tempest commented.

"Well then, I guess I'll say this right now congratulations," Glynda said. Tempest nodded, feeling determination in her heart.

"For now, all I have to say to you two is mission complete and you're dismissed," Glynda told the two, before leaving the room herself.

Tempest and Pyrrha, now alone in the room, looked at each other. "Um, Pyrrha, do you mind?" Tempest said.

Pyrrha looked to see that she was still hugging Tempest and quickly let go. "Sorry," she said out of embarrassment, blushing a little bit.

"Don't worry about it," Tempest told her.

"You know, I'm looking forward to working with you," Pyrrha said.

"Same here, hey you want to go do something interesting?" Tempest said in a carefree tone. Pyrrha nodded yes and the two went off to go do various things on the ship.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: Making New Friends**_

After returning to Vale and eating lunch, Tempest and Pyrrha went to look around the shopping district.

"Thanks for showing me around, I'm still new to Vale so I don't know," Tempest told Pyrrha.

"It's a pleasure showing a new friend around," Pyrrha said.

"You consider me a friend?" Tempest asked, a little surprised.

"Of course," Pyrrha reassured.

Tempest, in response, smiled and looked at Pyrrha. "That means a lot to me, thanks," she told Pyrrha happily. The two stayed silent as they continued to walk down the street.

Eventually, Tempest saw a nearby Dust Store. "Hey Pyrrha, mind if I buy some Dust?" Tempest asked.

"Sure, I was going to check on something anyway," Pyrrha said.

The two entered the Dust Store and went to do their respective tasks. As Tempest was browsing the different Dust types, she felt something familiar inside her. " _Why is this thing starting to act up again?_ " Tempest thought, placing her hand over her chest. As she was distracted, she bumped in to someone and fell over.

"I'm sorry, are you ok?" she heard the person ask as he picked her up.

Looking at the person who she bumped into, Tempest was surprised at who she saw.

The man looked to be about her age, a little taller than her, and was wearing a dark blue jacket, a white shirt, a pair of blue jeans, sneakers, and a gauntlet on his right arm. "I'm fine," Tempest said.

"I've never seen you around Vale before, what's your name?" the man asked Tempest.

"Tempest, I'm new in town," Tempest told the man, extending her hand.

"My name's Typhoon, nice to meet you Tempest," he said, shaking her hand.

"Sorry about bumping into you, I was distracted by something," Tempest explained to him.

"No problem, that happens to me at times as well," Typhoon told her.

"Really? You don't look like the type who would get distracted," Tempest said, walking down the aisle with Typhoon.

"I could say the same about you," Typhoon commented.

Tempest rolled her eyes at that comment and continued to grab Dust.

"Can I ask you something?" Typhoon inquired.

"Sure," Tempest said, going up to the counter.

"You want me to show you around Vale?" Typhoon asked.

Tempest stayed silent for a moment as she thought of a response. "I don't mind, but I already have a guide," she told him.

"In that case, do you mind if I tag along?" Typhoon questioned instead.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Tempest responded as she paid for the Dust.

"Thanks, I'll wait for you outside," Typhoon said, leaving the store.

Tempest stayed quiet as she got the Dust she bought and waited for Pyrrha. After a few minutes, Pyrrha came into view.

"Hey, sorry for taking so long," Pyrrha told Tempest.

"No problem, I had someone to talk to," Tempest said.

"Who would that be?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"Someone called Typhoon, have you heard of him?" Tempest explained.

Pyrrha thought about the name and remembered a rumor she had heard. "I don't think heard of him," Pyrrha told Tempest.

"What do you mean by 'you think'?"

"I don't know, but that name seems familiar to me," Pyrrha said as the two exited to store.

Looking to her left, Tempest saw Typhoon walking towards them. "Oh look, there's Typhoon now," Tempest told Pyrrha.

Pyrrha turned to look at Typhoon and was surprised at who she saw.

"Hey Pyrrha, long time no see," Typhoon said.

"You two know each other?" Tempest asked.

"It's a long story," Pyrrha told Tempest.

"I want to know, but now might not be the time," Tempest commented.

Typhoon simply smiled and said, "Come on, I know what we can do." He pointed to a nearby shop and all three of them went to the shop.

* * *

After sitting down for a few minutes of explaining, Pyrrha and Typhoon finished their story to Tempest. Tempest, meanwhile, sat there and processed what she just heard.

"So, can I just say a brief summary of what I understood?" Tempest asked the other two.

"Of course, we'll fill in any gaps after your summary," Typhoon said.

"So, from what I understood, Typhoon is going to start going to Beacon the same time as me. You two first meet when Ozpin assigned Pyrrha to your initiation mission. During one part of the mission, Typhoon saved you from falling down a chasm. After the mission, you two started to hang out more and became close friends. For the most part, you kept in touch by sending each other e-mails and the occasional meet up. About two weeks ago, Typhoon was sent on a mission and for the past two weeks, Pyrrha had not gotten anything from you."

"Is that basically the story?" Tempest asked after finishing her summary.

"That's basically a good summary," Typhoon told Tempest.

"One thing I want to ask, what was your mission?" Pyrrha inquired curiously.

"Well, that's a secret, but I can say it involved the White Fang," Typhoon told the two of them.

"That is probably the best I'm going to get out of you, isn't it?" Pyrrha asked.

Tempest was about to ask something, but she noticed someone odd sitting near them. The person in question looked to be female and was wearing a trench coat covering their entire body. "Hey, do you two know who that is?" Tempest questioned, pointing out the person she saw.

Pyrrha and Typhoon looked over and saw the person.

"I don't know who that is, but we could always ask," Pyrrha said.

"I think I might know who that is, but let me ask," Typhoon said, recognizing the clothing. After saying that, he got up and walked over the table where the person was sitting.

"How do you think Typhoon knows who that is?" Tempest asked curiously.

"I don't know, maybe the person is an old colleague," Pyrrha commented, keeping an eye on Typhoon.

After a few minutes, Typhoon came back and had a smile on his face.

"What are you so happy about?" Pyrrha asked curiously.

"I'll explain later, for now, I want you to meet some friends of mine," Typhoon responded.

Tempest and Pyrrha got up and followed Typhoon to where he was going.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, the three arrived in front of a decent looking house. "So, this is where your friend lives?" Tempest asked.

"Three of them anyway," Typhoon commented. He knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds. The door opened and on the other side was the same person that Tempest saw.

"So, these are the people who you wanted me to meet?" the person asked Typhoon.

"Yes, they are," Typhoon said. The person then opened the door all the way and allowed them all in.

"You can enter," the person said.

Tempest, Typhoon, and Pyrrha entered the house, with Typhoon closing the door. The three entered the living room, where they saw two people sitting down in chairs.

One was a Faunus who was wearing an black shirt, a skirt, and some sneakers. Although Tempest and Pyrrha were unsure about what type of Faunus she was, Typhoon looked at her with a smile. The other person was a human wearing a orange shirt, a pair of black shorts, some blue boots, and light blue glasses.

"Hey there you two, it's been a while," Typhoon called. The two sitting down looked up, saw Typhoon, and immediately got up.

"Typhoon, where have you been?" the Faunus exclaimed, hugging him tightly.

"It has been a while old friend," the human said.

"Hey, I've been busy and haven't had the time to visit," Typhoon said. The Faunus, while hugging Typhoon, noticed Tempest and Pyrrha standing there. "Before you ask, those are some friends of mine," Tempest told the two.

The human walked up and looked over the two of them, Tempest noticing his eyes glowing a pale green. "Well, I'll remember you two for sure, call me Emerl," he told the two.

"You can call me Shade," the Faunus said, running up behind Emerl.

"Nice to meet you Emerl, my name is Pyrrha," Pyrrha said.

"Mine is Tempest, pleased to meet you," Tempest said happily.

The four of them started to talk for a little bit while Typhoon stayed a little bit away. "Well, they became friends really quickly," Typhoon said to himself.

"I admit, I didn't think that they would," a voice next to him said. Looking to his left, he saw the one who opened the door and smiled. Stepping out of the way, Typhoon let the woman through to the living room, but quickly stopped her.

"You sure you want to introduce yourself to them?" Typhoon asked.

"No, but something about Tempest intrigues me," the woman said, going into the room.

Tempest, while talking to Emerl and Shade, noticed a woman walk into the room. The woman was wearing a blue tank top, a pair of black shorts, and aqua sneakers. The thing that Tempest noted was that the woman, while she was human, hand strange blue marking on her arms and legs.

"So, glad to see you all doing well," the woman spoke up, getting everyone's attention. Everyone in the room turned and looked at the woman, Pyrrha being surprised when she saw her.

"Who are you?" Pyrrha asked.

"My name is Phaze, you could call me the mother of these two," she said politely.

Tempest looked at Phaze and felt the same feeling when she meet Typhoon. " _Again? Why is it acting up now?_ " Tempest thought to herself.

"She's the one you saw at the restaurant Tempest," Typhoon commented as he walked back to the living room.

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Ms. Phaze" Pyrrha said.

"Please, just Phaze is fine," she said nicely, walking up to the group.

"It's nice to meet you," Tempest told Phaze.

With introductions out of the way, the six proceeded to talk about each other for about a few hours.

* * *

All six of them just finished dinner when Pyrrha noticed the time. "Wow, I didn't realize that it was that late," Pyrrha exclaimed, getting up from the table.

"You need to leave?" Shade asked curiously.

"Yes, thank you three for your hospitality," Pyrrha told Emerl, Shade, and Phaze.

"No problem, just remember you're always welcomed here," Phaze said with a smile on her face. With that, Pyrrha opened the door and left the house.

"Well, I should get going as well," Tempest said happily.

"Tempest, do you mind if I walk home with you?" Phaze asked curiously.

"Sure, but may I ask why?" Tempest responded.

"Well, I thought you would want some company on the way home," Phaze explained.

"Thanks for the consideration," Tempest said happily.

"Hey Typhoon, would you mind watching these two while I'm gone?" Phaze asked, grabbing her coat and putting it on.

"Sure, I always like watching Emerl and Shade," Typhoon said.

"Ok, I'll be right back," Phaze said.

"Bye Tempest, it was nice meeting you," Shade and Emerl said in unison.

"Same to you three, goodbye," Tempest said, departing with Phaze from the house.

The two of them walked in silence most of the way to the house, Phaze noticing Tempest getting a little tense. When they were about to arrive at the house, Phaze decided to do something that she had been thinking about for a while. "You look bothered by something, what is it?" she inquired.

"Oh, it's just that, I'm curious about the markings on you," Tempest said.

"Really? You're one of the few people I've meet who finds the markings interesting," Phaze admitted, think back to the past.

"Now, I don't mean to pry, but what are you? The only reason I ask is because you look human, but I think otherwise," Tempest told her, thinking back to her childhood.

"Well, I'm not sure about what I am, but the marking allow me to communicate with Grimm," Phaze explained.

"Really, that is really interesting," Tempest commented, intrigued about the concept about communicating with Grimm.

"It works both ways, I can understand what Grimm say and I can communicate with them," Phaze told Tempest, then promptly waited for her reaction.

Tempest let the information she heard process, then reacted like any sane person would. "Wait, what?" she reacted, completely dumfounded.

"Just trust me when I say it's a story for another day," Phaze said, smiling when she remembered a specific Grimm she meet.

"I'll trust you, see you later," Tempest said, opening the door to her house.

"See you," Phaze said, waving goodbye.

When she got in the house and closed the door, Tempest walked to her room with her bag. Upon reaching her room, she collapsed from exhaustion, leaning against a wall for support. " _Keeping this thing at bay is still exhausting, even with the bracelet,_ " Tempest thought, holding her chest in pain. Getting up from the floor, she walked over to the bed, laid down, and went to sleep.

Meanwhile, in Tempest's heart, the force that was bothering her calmed down. " _ **So, that girl is a Grimmwalker and a skilled one at that,**_ " the force thought. Deciding to take advantage of the situation, the force started to rest and come up with a plan.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03: Getting to Know Typhoon**

The next day, Tempest woke up feeling a lot better. "Thank god, that thing finally calmed down," she thought with a sigh of relief. She got out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs. As she was going to make breakfast, she heard a knock at the front door. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Typhoon.

"Morning, how are you today Tempest?" Typhoon asked.

"I'm ok, how did you find my house?" Tempest questioned.

"Phaze told me when she got home last night," Typhoon explained.

"Ok, do you want to come in?" Tempest asked politely.

"Sure, I don't mind," Typhoon responded. He then walked into the house and was amazed by the interior. "This is a nice house, where did you get it?" Typhoon inquired curiously as he was looking around.

"I got it as a gift from my father," Tempest told him.

"Your father must be a good man," Typhoon responded.

"He is," Tempest said in a happy tone. Then both Typhoon and Tempest's stomachs growled. "Come on, I'll make us breakfast," Tempest offered Typhoon.

"That sounds like a good plan," Typhoon said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Tempest went to the kitchen to make breakfast for the two of them. About 5 minutes later, she came back with two plates of eggs and some toast.

"Wow, where did you learn how to cook?" Typhoon said, impressed by what he was seeing.

"While I did get this house from my father, I actually did support myself for a while," Tempest explained.

"Well, I really surprised at that," Typhoon said.

"By the way, why did you come to my house?" Tempest questioned curiously.

"Well, I just wanted to know if you wanted to take a walk around Vale. I mean, you are new in town right?" Typhoon responded.

"You have a fair point," Tempest admitted.

"So, do you want to go?" Typhoon asked.

"Sure, I didn't have any plans for today, so why not," Tempest told Typhoon. Typhoon smiled at that and started to eat. "Also, word of advice, when you're asking a girl on a date, try not to be so direct," Tempest said playfully before starting to eat. Typhoon simply glared at her before continuing to eat.

* * *

After the two finished eating breakfast, they headed out to take a tour around Vale. "So, where do you want to go first?" Typhoon asked Tempest politely.

"I wouldn't mind going to the harbor, I like to look at the ships," Tempest told her.

"That's an interesting choice, but I can't blame you, I've gone there a few times and it's quite relaxing, come on," Typhoon said as they walked down the sidewalk. The two walked until they reached the harbor entrance. The harbor itself was large with warehouses on one side and docks on the other. On the side that had the docks, there was a pathway that leads to a viewing platform.

"Wow, the docks are really large," Tempest said out of surprise.

"Well, a lot of stuff does come from overseas, so they had to build a lot of warehouses to store different things," Typhoon explained.

"Doesn't that seem a little stupid as a design choice?" Tempest asked as they walked to the viewing platform.

"What do you mean by that?" Typhoon questioned curiously.

"Well, since there are a lot of warehouses, there seem to plenty of places where people like the White Fang could hide," Tempest explained to Typhoon in a serious tone.

Typhoon stayed silent for a few seconds as he processed what Tempest told him. "You know, I've never thought about it that way before, and you're totally right," Typhoon told her.

"Really? It never crossed your mind once?" Tempest asked, a little bit of disbelief in her voice.

"Never thought about it that way before. But, why did you specifically choose the White Fang?" Typhoon responded curiously.

"It's a long story, but the short version is that me and the White Fang have some uneasy history," Tempest told him.

"In that case, that's all I need to know for the moment," Typhoon said. The two of them walked in silence to the viewing platform.

* * *

When Tempest and Typhoon arrived at the platform, Tempest was amazed by the view. The view in question overlooked the bay of Vale with a mountain in the distance.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Typhoon told Tempest in a calm tone.

"It is absolutely beautiful, not only that, but it's calming as well," Tempest said with amazement in her voice.

"I knew you would like it," Typhoon said. Tempest stood there for a few seconds admiring the view before being snapped out of her trance by Typhoon. "You know, this might seem like an odd time to ask, but what's your Semblance?" Typhoon asked curiously.

"Why do you ask?" Tempest responded.

"Well, I'm actually going to start going to Beacon again, so I want to know in case we're team members," Typhoon told her.

"I don't want to say, it's kind of personal," Tempest said, a hint of fear in her voice. Typhoon heard that fear and thought for a few moments.

"If I show you mine, will you explain to me yours?" Typhoon offered.

"I'm ok with that, but what can you do that you would want to show me?" Tempest said.

Typhoon said nothing and closed his eyes. At first, nothing happened, but then Tempest noticed something. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a ball of wind began to form above the water. When she saw it, Typhoon opened his eyes and walked towards the edge of the viewing platform.

"Is that what your Semblance can do?" Tempest asked, amazed by the sight before her.

"That's right, but I don't know what it is," Typhoon explained as he moved the ball of hind closer.

"I've read of this type of Semblance before, I believe it's known as Aeromancy," Tempest told him.

"Aeromancy? I think I've heard that somewhere before," Typhoon said, bringing the ball of Wind up to him.

"Aeromancy is one of the elemental Semblances," Tempest told him.

"That's right, I remember now," Typhoon said.

"Still, it's rare for someone to be born with this type of Semblance," Tempest admitted.

"Actually, I have something to tell you after you show me your Semblance," Typhoon said. Tempest sighed and got a vial of Dust out from her jeans.

"Why are you getting some Dust out?" Typhoon asked.

"You said you wanted me to show you my semblance, I need this to have Dust available," Tempest explained. Typhoon let the ball of wind disperse so Tempest could show her Semblance without any issue.

Tempest opened the vial and moved her hand as if she was manipulating something. To Typhoon's surprise, the Dust came out of the vial on its own and stayed in midair. "Wow, I've never seen this type of Semblance before," Typhoon said.

"That's because it has never been seen or heard of before, only very few people know about this type of Semblance," Tempest explained as she manipulated the Dust to form the Schnee Logo.

"What is this Semblance called?" Typhoon asked as he marveled at the display he was seeing.

"As far as I know, it has no known name, but I call it Dustmancy, " Tempest told Typhoon as she manipulated the Dust back in the vial. Typhoon said nothing as he looked around the platform and started to see some people arriving.

"So, where do you want to go next?" Typhoon asked. At that point, before Tempest could say anything, both of their stomachs growled.

"Um, how about something to eat?" Tempest asked, blushing out of embarrassment a little bit.

"Sure, I know a few places around town," Typhoon said, laughing out loud at the fact they were both hungry. They both left, giggling a little as they both realized what had happened.

* * *

After the two of them ate, they headed to the shopping district. "Wow, this place is amazing," Tempest said.

"Yes, other than the harbor, the shopping district is the biggest area of Vale," Typhoon explained.

"You were not kidding when you told me the harbor was the second biggest area in Vale," Tempest said, remembering the talk they had during lunch.

"Well, as I told you, this is where most of the people in Vale spend their time," Typhoon said.

"I can tell, there are so many people here," Tempest said as she looked around and saw the massive amount of people in the district.

"This is also home to a majority of Vale's shops and restaurants," Typhoon explained.

"Out of curiosity, are there any special places here in Vale?" Tempest asked.

"Well, there is a bar that is run by a guy named Junior, the name of that place escapes me though," Typhoon said.

"Are there any other places?" Tempest questioned.

"Well, there is one place and it happens to be my favorite place to go to whenever I visit here," Typhoon explained.

"What is this place exactly?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, I want to keep it a surprise, but I will say that it is a type of Dust shop," Typhoon told Tempest as they walked around. After a few minutes of walking, Tempest noticed a huge building with a good amount of people going in and out of it.

"Is that the building you were telling me about?" Tempest asked.

"Yes, let's go inside before you start asking questions," Typhoon said before he walked ahead. Tempest quickly followed him as he went inside the store. When she got inside, she saw several rows of Dust.

"Typhoon, what is this place called?" Tempest asked.

"It has a lot of names, but most people call this place Dust Heaven," Typhoon told Tempest, a big smile forming on his face.

"This place is so huge, what exactly does this place have in it?" Tempest asked.

"Well, not only does this place offer a wide variety of Dust and is two floors tall, it also has a weapon enhancement center, a cafe with indoor and outdoor seating, and a library on the second floor," Typhoon told Tempest with a large amount of joy in her voice.

"Wow, I'm really impressed with this, did you plan this?" Tempest asked.

"I did plan on coming here, but I did want you to see the harbor first," Typhoon explained.

"That's good, I'm actually kind of thirsty, you want to go to the café?" Tempest asked.

"Sure, maybe while we're there you can give me more dating tips?" Typhoon responded.

"I didn't think you would like that joke, but I'll think about more tips," Tempest said. The two walked towards the café laughing all the way.

* * *

Tempest was sitting at a table in the cafe, thinking about what to talk to Typhoon about when he got back. "He's nice enough, I suppose I should tell him," Tempest thought in a gloomy tone. She was snapped out of her trance when she heard the seat in front of her move. She looked up and saw Typhoon there with two drinks.

"I wasn't sure what you would like, so I ordered you my favorite drink," Typhoon said. Tempest grabbed her drink and took a sip of it tentatively. She was immediately surprised by how delicious the drink was. "So, I'm going to assume it's so good that words can't even describe it," Typhoon said. Tempest simply nodded in response.

"I know the feeling, that was my reaction to the drink the first time," Typhoon explained.

"Wow, I didn't think it would be this good," Tempest said.

"I'll say, but I noticed that you were thinking about something. Out of curiosity, what were you thinking about?" Typhoon asked. Tempest stayed silent and put her drink down.

"Well, I was thinking about telling you about how I got my Semblance," Tempest explained.

"What a coincidence, I was going to tell you how I came to Vale," Typhoon said.

"That is a coincidence," Tempest commented, though her mind was thinking something else.

"Well, ladies first," Typhoon offered her.

"Thank you for the offer, but I should warn you, it is a little bit of a complicated story," Tempest told Typhoon.

"Thanks for the warning, I'll try to make some sense of it after," Typhoon said.

"Ok, well then, as you can probably tell, my semblance is not one I was born with. In fact, the one I had before was similar to yours, only with electricity instead of wind. I still have remnants of my old Semblance, but only if I have electric type Dust nearby. My new Semblance was given to me at a young age, about 4 or 5. I volunteered to take part in a lab experiment that the Schnee Company had. My dad was an important person in the company. After the experiment was over, I was told about my Semblance and how to use it."

Tempest was silent after her explanation to let Typhoon understand what he was told. "Wow, that seems like a rough past that you have, I feel sorry for you," Typhoon said.

"Thanks, but what about you? How exactly did you come to Vale?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, I'm not really sure myself," Typhoon admitted.

"What do you mean?" Tempest asked.

"Well, I don't have any memory of my past. Phaze found me lying outside of Vale one day and took me back to her house. When I woke up, I realized that I had no memory of my past. Phaze offer to let me live there and ever since, I've lived with Shade, Emrel, and Phaze."

"Oh, I'm sorry about bringing up the memory," Tempest said out of Sympathy.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Typhoon said.

"Look, I know you'll find out your past eventually, so just keep going and don't give up," Tempest said, taking a hold of Typhoon's hand. Typhoon did nothing out of surprise until he coughed lightly Tempest then realized what she was doing, let go of his hand, and blushed out of embarrassment.

"Thanks for the kind words and encouragement," Typhoon said, blushing a little himself. The two stayed silent until they finished their drinks and left the café.

"Hey Typhoon, can I tell you something?" Tempest asked.

"What is it?" Typhoon asked, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.

"Thank you for taking me out, I had a lot of fun," Tempest told him.

"You're welcome," Typhoon said, blushing a little harder.

"Well, I should get going. Oh, and one more thing," Tempest said as she was about to leave. Before Typhoon could say anything, Tempest kissed him on the cheek and left. Typhoon stood there for a few moments as he processed what had happened. When it finally registered, he simply smiled dumbly and walked away happily.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Taking Care of Emrel & Shade**

After leaving Typhoon at the cafe, Tempest started to walk back to her house when she saw Phaze. " _I should go talk with her and tell her about what I felt yesterday,_ " Tempest thought as she walked towards Phaze. As she got closer, she noticed that Phaze looked a little bit worried. "Hey Phaze, are you alright?" Tempest asked when she got close enough. Phaze, who was turned away from her, turned around at the sound of her voice.

"Oh, hello again Tempest. I'm just trying to find someone to do a favor for me," Phaze said.

"Well, I would be happy to help. You just need to tell me what you would want me to do," Tempest told her. Phaze, in response, quickly gave her a tight hug.

"Thank you so much Tempest," Phaze said as she squeezed Tempest.

"You're welcome Phaze, but could you let go of me? I need to breath in order to do things," Tempest said in a strained voice as the air was being squeezed out of her.

"Oh, sorry," Phaze said as she quickly let go of Tempest.

"Dang girl, you got a lot of strength," Tempest said.

"Sorry, I kind of don't know what my own strength is at times," Phaze said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it. What did you want me to do anyway?" Tempest asked.

"I need you to watch Shade and Emrel," Phaze told Tempest.

"I can do that, they seem like nice kids," Tempest said.

"Thank you, come on, I need to let them know," Phaze said. Phaze turned around and started to head towards her house.

" _Why do I have a feeling I'm going to find this very interesting?_ " Tempest thought before following Phaze.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, the two of them arrived at Phaze's house. "Ok, now to explain what I want you to do, I want you to watch Shade and Emrel for a few hours," Tempest told you.

"Where are you going?" Tempest asked curiously.

"I'm going to meet a friend that has been living with us for the past few years," Phaze told her.

"Really? What is his name?" Tempest asked.

"I'll tell you later because I need to get going," Phaze said as she opened the door. The two stepped inside and saw Shade and Emrel sitting in the living room.

"Hey you two, Tempest is going to watch you while I meet with your uncle," Phaze told them. Shade and Emrel simply smiled back in happiness and high fived each other.

"I hope I can watch over them well," Tempest said, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

"You'll do fine, now I have to get going. See you three in a few hours," Phaze said as she opened the door.

"Bye, Phaze/Mom!" the three yelled out as Phaze closed the door. When the door closed, Tempest turned to the two teenagers.

"Now then, what do you two do around here?" Tempest asked.

"Well, we do actually behave relatively well, unlike a lot of kids," Shade told Tempest.

"Really? Well in that case, do you have anything you two need to do at the moment?" Tempest asked curiously.

"We actually did all of our chores for today, so do you have anything you need to do?" Emrel told Tempest.

"Not exactly, but I did want to ask your mom a few questions that only she would be able to answer," Tempest said.

"Well, you could ask us some questions, we don't have anything special to do," Shade offered.

"Really, you don't have any questions I shouldn't ask you two?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, we would prefer it if you don't ask about our parents," Emrel said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Tempest noticed that sadness, but decided not to push the topic.

"So, what do you want to ask?" Shade inquired.

"Well, how does Phaze exactly treat you guys as her kids?" Tempest asked.

"She treats us really well. We're responsible, listen to her, and make her feel like a good parent," Shade responded.

"That good to know, now I you two won't be a handful," Tempest said in a playful tone. Shade and Emrel both laughed in response to that.

"You've got a good point there, we're actually really good kids," Shade said through her laugh.

"That's one thing that everyone in this house can agree on," Emrel added.

"That reminds me, who lives in this house?" Tempest asked curiously.

"The people who do live in this house are me, my brother Emrel, our mother Phaze, our adopted brother Typhoon, and our father/uncle Nitro," Shade told Tempest.

"Wait, how come you call Nitro your father and your uncle?" Twilight asked. This caused the two to look at each other uncomfortably. "Does this have to do with your actual parents?" Tempest inquired.

"You figured out that Phaze adopted us?" Emrel asked in a surprised voice.

"No, but thank you for telling me," Tempest said, a sly grin on her face. Emrel then proceeded to face palm while Shade simply sighed.

"What's going on and what are you hiding from me?" Tempest said in a motherly voice.

"Well, it's something that we would like to keep personal," Shade said.

"Sis, we can trust her. Besides, I would feel better if she knew," Emrel told his sister.

"If that's what you feel is right, then I'm not going to stop you," Shade said, knowing she'll never be able to convince him otherwise.

"Then which one of you wants to start explaining this story?" Tempest asked.

"Well, I'll start with our life before a certain point, then Shade will start explaining our life after that point," Emrel offered.

"That seems like a good idea," Tempest said.

"Well then I guess our old home is a good place to start. We actually didn't live Vale before, we actually lived in Haven. We used to have a good life, loving parents, and a nice place to live. Our parents were very nice, treated us very well, and still hold a place in our hearts. Unfortunately for us, something came by that changed our lives for the worse."

"About two years ago, back at our home in Haven, we were having a nice day and preparing have a visit from uncle Nitro. At about noon, there was a knock on the door. I went to open it, thinking it was uncle Nitro, my mom stopped me. They told us to go upstairs, hide, and that we should only come out if they come get us. Shade and I were confused, but we did as our parents asked."

"As we were looking for a place to hide, we heard the door being forced open and the sounds of fighting below. In a panic, we searched for a hiding place and came across a hidden room. We quickly hid ourselves and covered the door, hoping whatever was out there left. It turns out that we hid ourselves just in time, as we soon heard the door to our room to be open. We did make a small hole so we could see through, so Shade watched while I waited for her to say the coast was clear. After a few minutes of waiting, Shade told me the person in our house left and it was safe to come out. Just as we opened the door to the room, Uncle Nitro entered the room and hugged us."

When Emrel stopped talking, Tempest immediately went up and hugged the two of them. "You feel sorry for us, don't you?" Shade asked.

"Of course I do, you sound like you've been through a lot," Tempest said.

"We appreciate the sentiment, but Nitro took care of us after he found out what happened to our parents," Emrel said as a hint of sadness came in his voice.

"They got killed, didn't they?" Tempest responded. Neither of them said anything, but Tempest could feel some tears coming from the two of them.

"It's not fair, why did they have to die?" Shade asked through her tears.

"Did they ever catch their killer?" Tempest asked.

"No, Nitro has kept in touch with the police, but no luck so far," Emrel said.

"Well then, as to your question Shade, there are a lot of good and bad people in this world. People from both sides fight often and occasionally some people do end up dying," Tempest told the two. The two teenagers looked at Tempest with a bit of confusion.

"What? It was the best I could do to explain, give me a break," Tempest said in response. Shade and Emrel ended up laughing at that comment.

"Hey, what were we going to get for dinner?" Shade asked before her stomach rumbled.

"Well, how do you two feel about pizza?" Tempest asked. The two instantly nodded in agreement and Tempest got up to order the pizza.

* * *

After ordering the pizza, Tempest went back to the living room and saw Emrel comforting Shade. " _I feel bad about making them recall that time of their life, but I need to know what they've had to go through in order to understand them_ ," Tempest thought as she took a seat across from the two.

"So, do you want me to tell the rest of the story while we wait for the pizza to get here?" Shade asked.

"I wouldn't mind, but if you feel uncomfortable, we can stop," Tempest asked.

"It shouldn't take that long to get through. Besides, everything that happened afterwards was good for us," Emrel told Tempest.

"Ok then," Tempest said as she became quiet.

"Then I'll pick up where Emrel left off. After our uncle found us, he called the police and they came to the house. After they found out our parents were dead, we were supposed to be sent to an orphanage, but Nitro adopted us. After getting everything with our adoption settled, Nitro told us that everything would be ok."

"He also told us that he had to move to Vale and asked us if we wanted to come with him. We both agreed and, after getting everything ready for transfer, we headed out for Vale. After a few hours of travel by train, we arrived in Vale. Nitro told us to look for a woman know as Phaze, a friend of his. Eventually, we found her waiting for us and Nitro explained the situation to her."

"Phaze did agree to take care of us and help Nitro while he lived in Vale. The two of us were very happy about the fact that we would have a new home, but Nitro seemed a little hesitant to take the offer. Phaze told Nitro that it was the best thing for us and he did agree if he could live with Phaze and us. Phaze agreed and we've lived together in this house for the past two years. The only other thing of note is that about a year ago, we found Typhoon unconscious and let him live with us."

After Shade finished her story, she stayed silent as she let Tempest take in the information. "That is quite a story that you two have gone through," Tempest responded.

"Thank you for listening to our story, we kind of wanted to let someone else know for a while," Emrel said.

"We also wanted that person to be someone we trusted and know would believe my story," Shade commented.

"Well, I certainly believe your story," Tempest said. Before anyone could say anything, they heard the doorbell ring. "I have a few more things I want to ask you about, but they can wait until after dinner," Tempest said as she got up to answer the door.

* * *

After paying for the pizza, they all ate in the living room. "I do have to say, this house is very nice," Tempest said after she finished her dinner.

"Thank you, we really like it here," Shade said.

"That does remind me, what are both of your semblances?" Tempest asked curiously. The two teens looked at each other and nodded in agreement

"Well, I have a unique type of semblance," Emrel said as he looked at Shade.

"Really? What is it?" Tempest asked. In response, Emrel waved his hand in her face. Tempest was about to ask when she noticed a familiar wind trail in front of her. "Wait, you know Aeromancy as well?" Tempest asked.

"Not exactly, you see, my semblance is known as Mimicry," Emrel explained.

"Mimicry?" Tempest questioned.

"To explain, think of me like a mirror that can copy a person's fighting style," Emrel explained.

"Wow, that's very impressive. Although, I imagine that using that uses a lot of your energy," Tempest commented.

"You're actually right on that, it is hard for me to copy and use a fighting style. However, unlike someone Nitro has met, me and Nitro can do something unique," Emrel said.

"Wait, Nitro has this semblance as well?" Tempest asked out of surprise.

"He does, but if you see him could you keep it a secret?" Shade said.

"I promise. By the way, what are you talking about Emrel?" Tempest responded.

"Well, if we're around someone and study their fighting style for long enough, me and Nitro can store that specific fighting style in our memories so we can use it later," Emrel explained.

"That seems very convenient," Tempest commented.

"Not only that, but the saved styles do use less energy the more you use them. The ones that I know very well are the fighting styles of Phaze, Typhoon, and my sister," Emrel continued.

"Wow, that's very impressive. What about your semblance Shade?" Tempest responded.

"Well, like Emrel's semblance, mine is special. You've heard about the ten elemental semblances right?" Shade asked.

"I have," Tempest told her.

"Well, my semblance is one of those and it is one of the more unique ones," Shade said.

"What is it?" Tempest asked. In response, Shade opened her hand and a ball of shadows appeared.

"My semblance is not easy to define, but it is most commonly known as Shadowmancy," Shade explained as she let the ball of shadows fall to the floor.

"So, I'm going to guess that you're the type of fighter who likes to be stealthy?" Tempest asked.

"That's right," Shade said. After staying silent for a few more minutes, the door to the house opened and Phaze walked in.

"I'm home," Phaze announced.

"Hey Phaze, how did it go?" Tempest asked as she got up.

"It went very well. How did Emrel and Shade treat you?" Phaze responded.

"They were very good kids," Tempest said with a smile on her face. Phaze looked over Tempest's shoulder and saw Emrel and Shade sitting down and talking with each other.

"Wow, you managed to get them actively talking," Phaze said.

"They don't talk to each other much, do they?" Tempest asked.

"Not normally, but you seem to have a sort of good charm with them," Phaze said.

"Thanks, I appreciate the compliment," Tempest said as she let out a breath she had been holding.

"Nervous?" Phaze asked.

"I guess I was," Tempest asked.

"Well, I'm just glad nothing bad happened," Phaze commented.

"I'll say. Anyway, I have to get going," Tempest said as she approached the door.

"Tempest, wait up!" Emrel said as he and Shade walked up to her.

"What is it Emrel?" Tempest asked.

"We just wanted to say thank you for taking care of us," Shade told Tempest.

"Yeah, it was a good time," Emrel said.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that," Tempest said. With that, the two teens back upstairs.

"Wow, you do have a way with kids of all ages, don't you?" Phaze asked in a happy tone.

"I guess I do," Tempest said, rubbing the back of her head out of embarrassment.

"Hey, you want to hang out tomorrow?" Phaze asked. This offer surprised Tempest a lot.

"Why?" Tempest asked cautiously.

"Well, you see like a friendly enough person," Phaze said.

"In that case, I think I will," Tempest said.

"Great, you want to meet at Dust Haven tomorrow?" Phaze asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Tempest said as she opened the door. With that, Tempest left Phaze's house and headed to her own house to rest.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Understanding Phaze**

The next day, Tempest woke up and felt a very familiar feeling overwhelm her body. "God _dang it, Phaze isn't even around me, yet I feel like this,_ " Tempest thought as she got up. As she got up, she heard what sounded like a bird Grimm calling her. Quickly, she looked out the bedroom window and felt the strong presence again.

"So, she also has one in her," A voice said from behind her. Tempest turned around and saw a devil version of herself that she had seen before.

"Shade, how did you get out?" Tempest said in a shocked tone.

"Thanks to the presence of another like me, I am able to manifest temporarily," Shade said.

"Wait, you mean there is someone else like me in Vale?" Tempest asked.

"Yes, there is. Which leads me to a favor I want to ask of you," Shade said as she walked towards the window.

"Why would I listen to a favor from you?" Tempest asked.

"Well, if you do, you may learn who the other carrier is," Shade said. Tempest stayed silent and thought about it for a bit.

"Fine, but only to learn and befriend the other carrier," Tempest said eventually.

"Very well, then here is the favor that I would like to ask. I would like to request that you make friends with that Faunus girl," Shade said as she pointed out the window. Tempest looked and saw a red haired Faunus girl looking around.

"Why do you choose her of all…?" Tempest said as she looked over and saw Shade was gone. Tempest also noticed that the feeling was gone. " _I guess the power that was in the area is gone,_ " Tempest thought to herself. Eventually, Tempest got dressed and went downstairs to eat breakfast.

After she ate and got her things, Tempest heard a knock on the door. "I'm coming," Tempest said as she walked. When she opened the door, she saw Phaze waiting outside the door.

"Morning Tempest," Phaze said in a joyful tone.

"Morning Phaze, I didn't expect to see you early in the morning," Tempest said.

"I usually get up early anyway, may I come in?" Phaze said.

"Sure," Tempest said as she let Phaze into the house. As Phaze stepped inside, she marveled at the interior of the house.

"Nice place you got here," Phaze said as she looked around.

"Thanks, my dad got it for me," Tempest said.

"Wow, your father must be a rich man," Phaze said.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Tempest said to herself.

"Anyway, I wanted to tell you where we are going to go," Phaze said.

"Really, you have a destination in mind?" Tempest inquired.

"Well, why don't we go to a lookout spot that I love to go to?" Phaze responded.

"Ok, where is this spot?" Tempest asked.

"Well, it's a secret until we get there," Phaze said.

"That seems fair, what time do we want to go?" Tempest said.

"Well, why don't we go right now?" Phaze suggested.

"Sure, let me just get a few things ready," Tempest said as she went up to her room. After getting a few things from her room, Tempest went back down stairs and saw Phaze waiting patiently for her. "I'm ready," Tempest said. After she said that, Phaze and Tempest headed out to the place where Phaze suggested they go.

* * *

About an hour later, the two arrived in front of the entrance to the docks. "Wait, is your favorite place the viewing platform here at the docks?" Tempest asked.

"No, it's one of my favorite, but not my favorite," Phaze responded.

"Then where are we going?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, follow me and you'll find out," Phaze said as she walked towards the warehouses. Tempest followed Phaze and after a few minutes of walking the two arrived at a wall. Tempest was about to ask why they were there, but stopped that when she saw Phaze moving something.

"What are you doing?" Tempest asked as she looked around cautiously. When she looked back, she saw Phaze kneeling next to a hole in the wall.

"So, are you going to come or am I going alone?" Phaze responded before she started to crawl through the hole.

"I'm coming," Tempest said as she got on her knees and started to crawl through the hole. After crawling for what seemed like a few minutes, the two eventually exited the hole and got outside the wall.

"Are you ok? That trip can be quite a challenge for me at times," Phaze asked with her hand extended.

"I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting it," Tempest said as she took Phaze's hand. Phaze pulled Tempest up to her feet and made sure she was ok.

"Ok, come on," Phaze said as she walked towards the lake.

"Wait, we're outside of Vale right?" Tempest asked as she followed Phaze.

"That's correct," Phaze responded calmly.

"Then shouldn't we be worried running into any Grimm," Tempest asked in a slightly worried tone.

"Don't worry, there isn't much to be worried about," Phaze said. Tempest got confused and just decided to trust Phaze. After about a minute of walking, the two come into a grove that overlooked the bay of Vale.

"Wow, this place is amazing. Is this the place you wanted to show me?" Tempest said out of astonishment.

"This is the place, but there is something else I wanted to show you," Phaze said in a happy tone. Tempest was about to ask what she meant when she heard some trees rustling. Figuring it was a Grimm, Tempest reached for her weapon but stopped when she felt Phaze's hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it's a friend of mine," Phaze said as she walked ahead of Tempest. Tempest was weary, but decided to trust in Phaze, although she kept her hands on her Frost Edges just in case. Eventually, the rustling stopped and what emerged from the trees was not what Tempest was expecting. It was a Grimm known as a Beowolf, but unlike the Grimm that she had seen and heard about before, this one was white and didn't seem hostile at all.

"What type of Grim is that?" Tempest asked as she moved her hand away from her weapons.

"This is known as a Calmed Grimm," Phaze said as she walked up to it.

"Calmed Grimm? Why is it called that?" Tempest asked. Phaze was about to explain but the Beowolf seemed to stop her.

"Why don't you let me explain?" the Grimm said to Phaze.

"I don't think that she can understand you," Phaze responded. The fact that the Grimm spoke made Tempest a little bit worried and freaked out. Phaze noticed her worried state and walked up to her.

"Tempest, there is no need to be afraid, a Calmed Grimm is of no harm to anyone," Phaze told her.

"That not the thing that freaked me out," Tempest said.

"What is it then?" Phaze asked curiously.

"It's the fact that the Grimm spoke," Tempest said. That statement seemed to shock Phaze and made her look at the Grimm.

"You can understand them?" Phaze asked Tempest.

"I can, is that not normal?" Tempest responded.

"It's not normal, but it is very rare for a human to know our language unless they are a Grimmwalker," the Calmed Grimm explained.

"A Grimmwalker?" Tempest asked.

"As a good example, I am a Grimmwalker," Phaze told Tempest. Tempest took a moment to process that and looked at the markings on Phaze's arm. "In case you're curious, yes, these marking do indicate that I am a Grimm Walker," Phaze explained.

"Wait, if only a Grimmwalker can understand Grimm, then how can I if I'm not a Grimmwalker?" Tempest asked curiously. Phaze let go of Tempest and stepped away to think.

"Well, has anything happened to you in your past?" Phaze asked.

"Could you be more specific about that question?" Tempest inquired.

"Well, to word it better, I want to know if anything happened to you in the past that involved a Grimm. The reason I ask is because it is possible for a Grimm to transfer their knowledge to someone and make them a Grimmwalker," Phaze explained.

"Oh, well something like that did happen, but it's kind of a personal thing," Tempest said.

"That's fine, you don't have to tell me about it, but it's good to know," Phaze said as she sat down.

"I'm relieved to know as well," the Calmed Grimm said.

"I just have to ask, but do you have a name?" Tempest asked the Grimm.

"I do, you may call me Shin," the Grimm told Tempest as he walked next to Phaze.

"Ok, this is proving to be one of the weirdest days in my life," Tempest commented as she sat down.

"What makes it weird?" Phaze and Shin asked at the same time.

"Well, I'm talking to a peaceful Grimm which I just found out existed today, and I'm talking to a friend who understands them," Tempest said.

"So, what is weird about that?" Phaze asked. Tempest immediately just fell back in response, which caused Phaze and Shin just laughed. "Well, in all seriousness, it does seem a little weird, but I've just learned to deal with it," Phaze admitted as she relaxed a little.

"That does remind me though, have you told this to your family yet?" Tempest asked. Phaze suddenly tensed up at the question, which Tempest noticed.

"Well, it's complicated," Tempest responded.

"Wait, you have a family Phaze? Why haven't you introduced me to them yet?" Shin asked curiously.

"I think I can take a guess why she hasn't said anything yet," Tempest said as she sat upright.

"What would that be Tempest?" Shin inquired.

"Well, it's the fact that she is afraid of what her family will think of her if they do find out," Tempest theorized. Tempest noticed that Phaze seemed to hug her knees when she said that. "I'm right on the dot, aren't I?" Tempest asked Phaze.

"You have no idea what it's like to be scared of what you are," Phaze said in a weak voice.

"What do you mean Phaze?" Shin asked as he leaned next to her.

"Well, as you know I do wear clothes that cover my whole body from time to time. The reason that I do wear cloths like that is because I have been made fun of before because of these marks," Phaze explained.

"So you ware full body clothes to keep being made fun of?" Tempest asked.

"That's right," Phaze said in a glum tone.

"Why does that prevent you from telling your family about me and what you are?" Shin asked cautiously.

"Because, like Tempest said, I'm afraid of they what they will think of me if I do reveal what I am to the," Phaze said with a strained voice.

"Well, I reacted relatively well to you when you revealed it to me," Tempest pointed out.

"That's only because I trusted you with the truth," Phaze said.

"Do I need to remind you that I was a total stranger to you only a few days ago until Typhoon introduced me?" Tempest told Phaze.

"That's true, but I got to know you from what I heard," Phaze said.

"Look, I'm not trying to argue with you, but I'm trying to tell you something important," Tempest told Phaze.

"And what message would that be?" Phaze asked in a weak voice.

"If you trusted me, basically a total stranger turned friend, then why don't you trust you family with the secret?" Tempest told Phaze. Phaze stayed silent as Tempest's words hit her. "Not only that, but I think that your family would be more than understanding enough to help support you with you powers," Tempest continued.

"How would you know how to deal with this?" Phaze asked harshly.

"Because I dealt with this in the past!" Tempest yelled out of annoyance. Phaze looked at Tempest with a look of shock on her face.

"Wait, how have you dealt with this before?" Phaze asked. Tempest moved and sat down next to Phaze.

"Well, it's complicated and kind of a long story," Tempest admitted.

"I think I want to hear it so I can see what you mean," Phaze said.

"Out of curiosity, do you know what my semblance is?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, Wind told that you are able to manipulate Dust?" Phaze said.

"Wind?" Tempest asked.

"It's the name Typhoon prefers to go by," Phaze explained.

"Well, I guess to start I should tell you how I got my Semblance. When I was little, I had a good life with some nice parents. I did have sisters, but I had to kept a secret from them for a reason. That reason is how I got my semblance."

After saying that line, Tempest seemed to tense up a little bit. "What's wrong?" Phaze asked.

"Well, what I'm about to tell you is confidential information from the Schnee Company," Tempest told Phaze.

"You won't have to worry about me telling anyone, if that's wondering," Phaze told Tempest.

"I think you know I won't tell anyone," Shin said.

"Ok, well then, to continue where I left off, there was an offer going around from the Schnee Company. Because my father worked in the Schnee industry, I was one of the ones volunteered to do the experiment. From what I remember, they were going to try injecting various people with two types of Dust they created."

"Wait, the Schnee Company made Dust?" Phaze said.

"I don't know the exact details, but from what I understand, they used the pure essence of the other Dust types to create the types of Dust they used on me," Tempest told Phaze.

"Ok, what were the Dust types that they used on you?" Phaze asked curiously.

"Well, I believe they were known and Hyper and Wild. Before you ask anything else, let me explain what happened to me. I was told to go to sleep so I wouldn't feel anything, so I did. Towards the end of the procedure, I was still unconscious when I woke up with me finding myself in my father's arms. I didn't know what had happened at the time, but later on in my life my father told me what had happened to me. From what my father told me, the White Fang attacked soon after my procedure started."

"Wait, why would the White Fang attack?" Shin asked.

"It makes sense with the fact that they could want the Hyper & Wild Dust," Phaze commented.

"That is what we think as well, but we are still working out how they could have gotten into the operating room. The security there was very tight," Tempest told the two.

"Well, after you looked over yourself, did you notice anything after the procedure?" Phaze asked curiously.

"That is the interesting thing. While I didn't notice anything at first, I did eventually find out that something happened to me," Tempest said.

"What happened to you?" Shin asked. Tempest stood up and closed her eyes in response. Phaze and Shin looked at each other and wondered what Tempest was doing. When they turned back, they saw that Tempest now had a tail, pony ears, and wings on her back.

"Wait, Tempest is that you?" Phaze asked out of surprise.

"Yes, it is," Tempest told the two. Shin got up and started to walk around Tempest to see if she was playing a prank. "In case you are wondering if these are real, they are," Tempest told the two.

"When did you become a Faunus and what kind of Faunus are you?" Phaze asked out of amazement.

"Remember when I said I had to be hidden from my sisters?" Tempest told Phaze.

"This was the reason?" Phaze responded as she got up and walked up to Tempest.

"Yes, and as for the type of Faunus, I believe the race I am known as Pegasus," Tempest told the two.

"Wait, you mean the like the mythical Pegasus?" Shin asked.

"That is correct, don't ask about it, even I don't know why I'm the Faunus of a mythical creature," Tempest said.

"Still, that is amazing. Can you fly?" Phaze asked.

"I can, but I still need to practice," Tempest said as she closed her eyes again. Almost as if something happened to her, the ears, tail, and wings disappeared.

"So, you can switch between your normal self and your Faunus form?" Shin asked curiously.

"I can, but I need to concentrate in order to do so. I can do it on instinct, but I need to be in a tight situation to do it," Tempest explained.

"That is so cool," Phaze said. Before anyone could say anything, Tempest heard her Scroll start to ring. She took it out and saw Glynda was contacting her.

"Excuse me a minute," Tempest said as she walked away from the two. After she got far enough away, she answered the call and said hello.

"Sorry to bother you, but I have a request for you from Ozpin,' Glynda said in a serious tone.

"What is it?" Tempest asked.

"He wants you to meet a student by the name of Sunset Shimmer," Glynda told Tempest.

"Ok, where do I meet her?" Tempest asked.

"At Dust Haven, I would recommend you go now," Glynda told her.

"Got it, I'm on my way," Tempest said before she hung up. Tempest put away her Scroll and walked back to Phaze and Shin. "Hey, I have to go meet someone," Tempest told the two.

"Ok, see you later then," Tempest said as she waved goodbye to the two of them.

"I would recommend that you keep an eye on Tempest," Shin told Phaze.

"Why do you say that?" Phaze asked.

"I felt something familiar from her, but I don't know from where," Shin explained.

"Ok, I'll believe in you and keep an eye on her," Phaze said. Shin was about to say something, but stopped when he heard something. "You have to go?" Phaze asked.

"I do, see you later Phaze," Shin said as he dashed off. Phaze waved goodbye as she headed back to the hole.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: A Meeting of Fate**

After Tempest crawled through the hole again and exited the docks, she headed to Dust Haven to meet with the student. " _Sunset Shimmer, that's and odd name. But then again, my name isn't exactly one someone would find normal either,_ " Tempest thought. As she got closer to the entrance of the mall, she felt the same feeling that happened in the morning. " _Wait, does that mean whoever because that feeling is in the store?_ " Tempest thought in a panicked tone.

Deciding that Sunset could wait, Tempest walked into the mall in order to find the source of the power. As the feeling got stronger, Tempest noticed the feeling also got more comforting for some reason. "That is odd, I've never felt something like this before," Tempest said as the feeling enveloped her. Tempest snapped out of it when she bumped into someone. "Sorry, I really should have paid attention to where I was going. Are you Ok?" Tempest said in an apologetic tone.

"I'm fine, and I'm also guilty of the same thing," the person she bumped into said. Tempest looked at the person she bumped into and saw a Faunus girl around her age wearing a long-sleeved burgundy and amber dress with black accents, black bracers on her wrists, and an odd amber glove on her hand.

"Sorry about that, I was just in a hurry to meet someone, but I don't know who they are," Tempest said.

"Huh, I was going to do the same thing," the girl said. The two stood there for a moment before turning to each other.

"Are you the one Ozpin told me to meet?" The two asked simultaneously. Both Tempest and the girl giggled at that perfect timing of the question.

""Wow, what are the chances that we would happen to meet each other by bumping into each other?" Tempest asked.

"Just trust me when I say stuff like this happens to me a lot. Anyway, you must be Tempest, the one Ozpin told me about," the girl told Tempest.

"That would be me. You must be Sunset Shimmer," Tempest said with a smile on her face.

"That's me, it's nice to meet you," Sunset said as she extended her hand. Tempest shook Sunset's hand and the two somehow seemed calm. The two stayed silent as they realized that they didn't have anything to do.

"You want to go do something?" Tempest asked.

"That would be a good idea," Sunset said. With that, Sunset and Tempest went to find a place where they could talk.

* * *

After some walking around, the two eventually ended up on a balcony that had a beautiful view of Vale. "Wow, this place is very nice," Tempest said as she marveled at the view.

"I figured that you would like it," Sunset told her.

"I do like it, but why bring me up here?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, at this time of the day, there is not many people here, so we can talk in peace," Sunset explained.

"That is a good idea," Tempest said as she sat down on one of the benches. Sunset sat down next to Tempest and asked the obvious question that was on both their minds.

"So, did Ozpin say why he wanted to two of us to meet?" Sunset questioned.

"Well, I guess he wanted us to meet and get to know each other for some reason," Tempest suggested.

"You know, I'm just going to stop wondering about it because I don't want to think about it anymore," Sunset commented.

"I agree with you," Tempest commented as she smelled the flowers on the balcony.

"So, where do you live?" Sunset asked.

"Out of curiosity, why are you asking me about that?" Tempest responded.

"Well, since we are here, we might as well get to know each other," Sunset explained.

"That's a very good point. Anyway to answer your question, I was living in an apartment in Vale for a few years, but about a week ago, my father gave me a house and I've been living in it for the past week." Tempest told Sunset.

"Wait, your dad bought you a house?" Sunset asked out of surprise.

"That is correct," Tempest responded.

"Ok, so this is a question that I have. Are you and your family rich?" Sunset asked curiously.

"Well, I am from a wealthy family, but I rely on myself to make money for myself," Tempest explained.

"That seems odd, but I can see why you would do that. I have no family myself and I've had to support myself for a while," Sunset told Tempest, think about her family in Equestria.

"Well if you don't have any family, where do you live?" Tempest asked in a caring tone. Sunset was about to answer when she realized what Tempest asked.

"Aren't you curious as to why I don't have any family?" Sunset responded. Tempest stayed quiet and got up off the bench. "Are you ok?" Sunset asked as Tempest walked to the guardrails.

"I'm fine, it's just complicated for me to answer that question," Tempest told Sunset as she leaned on the guardrails.

"You had trouble to some trouble with family?" Sunset asked as she leaned beside Tempest.

"It's something I don't like talking about," Tempest told Sunset. Sunset stayed quiet and thought about her life at that moment.

"Well, I guess I have no choice," Sunset thought somberly. "What about if I tell you about a time in my life? A time that I wasn't at my best," Sunset asked as she looked around.

"What could you possibly have that I would tell you about my family, which I am really private about?" Tempest responded to Sunset.

"Well, I could tell you about my time as a high ranking commander in the White Fang," Sunset whispered nervously. Tempest thought about that offer and then jolted up remembered something from her past.

" _Wait, she couldn't possibly be her, could she?_ " Tempest thought.

"Is something wrong?" Sunset asked.

"Nothing is wrong, but I will take you up on that offer," Tempest said.

"That's great, but do you mind if I tell you at another place?" Sunset told her.

"You know, that seems like a good idea," Tempest said.

"So, where do you think is a good place?" Sunset asked. Tempest thought about that for a few seconds before deciding on a place.

"My house would be good," Tempest said.

"That sounds good, but do you mind if I go pick up my weapon first?" Sunset asked.

"Sure, I'll wait for you at the outside of the mall," Tempest said.

"How will I know how to find you?" Sunset inquired.

"Trust me, I'll be easy to find," Tempest said smiling. Sunset decided not to question Tempest any further and just nodded in response. After that exchange, Sunset left to go get her weapon while Tempest went to wait for Sunset.

* * *

Tempest left the mall and walked out to the parking lot where she pulled out her Scroll. "Might as well, use my bike," Tempest said as she dialed a number. After hearing a ring for a few seconds, she heard a voice on the other end.

" _Did you need something Miss Tempest?_ " A robotic voice said on the phone.

"Hey Nimue, I need you to send Zephyr to the Dust Haven mall," Tempest told Nimue.

" _No problem, she'll be right over,"_ Nimue said.

"Right, thanks," Tempest said as she hung up.

"Who were you talking with Tempest?" a voice asked. Tempest turned around and saw Phaze, Shade, Emrel, and Wind standing there.

"Hey, what are you all doing here?" Tempest asked.

"Well, we were actually going to meet with someone who we consider family," Wind said.

"Really, that seems nice," Tempest said smiling slightly.

"Maybe you can come with us to meet him," Shade suggested.

"I don't think I'll be able to, I'm going to meet with someone," Tempest told the four.

"Well, that's too bad," Emrel said.

"But since you're out here, are you done with your meeting?" Phaze asked.

"No, I'm just waiting for her so we can go somewhere more private," Tempest told the group.

"Well, we hope you have a good meeting," Phaze said as the four started to head towards the entrance.

"See you all," Tempest said as she waved goodbye. After the four left, Tempest felt her scroll receive a call from Zephyr, which she answered.

" _I'm arriving at the mall,_ " Zephyr told Tempest.

"Perfect, I'm right in front of the entrance," Tempest said.

" _Ok, I'll be there shortly,_ " Zephyr said as she hung up. Tempest put her Scroll away just in time for Sunset to run up to her.

"What took you so long?" Tempest asked.

"Well, I ran into a friend of mine and we talked for a little bit," Sunset said as she caught her breath.

"That's good, I actually ran into four friends that I made," Tempest told Sunset.

"Cool, anyway, how are we going to get to your house?" Sunset asked curiously.

"Don't worry, I called for something," Tempest said, a smile forming on her face. Sunset was about to ask why, but soon heard an engine coming closer to them. The two girls saw a motorcycle with no driver approach and stop in front of them. Sunset tried to process what she just saw when Tempest handed her a helmet.

"I'll tell you how later. For now, hop on," Tempest said as she got on the bike. Sunset dumbly got on and put on the helmet she was given. "You better hold on," Tempest said as she revved the motorcycle. Sunset did as she was told and the two rode off to Tempest's house.

* * *

After riding for about ten minutes, Tempest and Sunset started to pull into Tempest's garage. As they came to a stop, Tempest felt Sunset gripping her tightly. "Hey Sunset, you can stop holding on to me so tightly now," Tempest told her as she turned off the motorcycle. Sunset opened her eyes and saw that they were stopped.

"Sorry, it's just that you were driving very fast," Sunset said as she let go of Tempest's waist.

"Its fine, but don't tell me you didn't like going that fast," Tempest said as she took off her helmet. Sunset thought about that as she did the same.

"Ok, I'll admit that it was very exhilarating, but not something I would like to do again," Sunset told Tempest.

"Fair enough," Tempest said as she walked to the garage door and opened it. As Sunset stepped into the house, she was amazed by just the living room. "You like what you see?" Tempest asked as she entered the house herself.

"Of course I am, when you said your dad bought you a house, I was thinking a nice one floor house, not a two story luxury house," Sunset said.

"Well, what can I say, he has me spoiled," Tempest said as she smiled. Sunset said nothing as she continued to look around. As she looked around, she noticed a picture of five people on one of the stands.

"Hey Tempest, is this your family?" Sunset asked curiously. Tempest looked over and saw the picture that Sunset was looking like.

"Yes it is," Tempest said, some tears forming in her eyes. Sunset was about to ask what was wrong when she remembered the conversation they had at the mall.

"Oh, well do you want to talk about your family first or do you want me to talk about my time in the White Fang?" Sunset asked in an awkward tone.

"Do you mind going first? I need to think about how to talk about my family," Tempest requested.

"Ok, just be warned that I do have a lot to talk about, so if you have any questions, I would recommend you ask after I explain everything," Sunset explained.

"That's fine, also should mention, you don't have to explain everything, only what you feel is necessary," Tempest told Sunset.

"Ok, well I think it's a good idea to start from the beginning. I was going through a rough time in my life when I joined the White Fang; I had just left my home and wanted to do something with my life. That was when I was scouted for the White Fang by a woman named Cinder. She took me to the Vale Branch of the White Fang and was the commander of my unit in the early days."

"She was a ruthless commander always expecting success from her troops, but she treated me differently. I remember when the first mission I was on ended in failure, she got after everyone who took part in the mission. It didn't help that the mission I went on was my first time seeing how ruthless the White Fang were. They burned an entire village to the ground and I didn't take it well."

"While she was delivering her scolding, I silently moved away from the group and went to the roof of our HQ at the time. When I got there, I proceeded to sit down and instantly start to panic about what I saw. After about a minute of panicking, someone eventually came up to me. That someone turned out to be Cinder. Apparently she came to look for me because another member of my unit saw me leave."

"I told her I was sorry and that she could scold me for being a failure, but she did something that I didn't expect. She asked if she could talk with me privately and I told her it wasn't a problem. We went to her chambers in the HQ; each commander of the White Fang has a guarded room for themselves. When we arrived, she told the guards by the room to leave and they did as they were told."

"Upon entering the room, she said that while she was disappointed in me, she wanted to know why. I explained to her that I didn't know how to fight and was mostly a peaceful person before breaking out into tears. I told her I was a disgrace and that she should just get rid of me. To my surprise, instead of getting the reaction I was expecting, I received a hug from Cinder. She explained that she had no idea and felt sorry for me, which came to a surprise for me. She then offered to train me personally and help me get used to being in the White Fang."

Sunset then stopped there to let Tempest take in all of that information. "So I imagine that you accepted that offer?" Tempest asked.

"Of course I did, it was the only way I was going to survive," Sunset explained as she recalled the memory.

"Well, why don't we stop with your story for now?" Tempest offered.

"Why are you offering me that?" Sunset responded.

"Well, I think that this is a good stopping point for your story, plus I don't want you to remember any bad times you might have had," Tempest explained. Sunset thought about that offer for a minute before making a decision.

"I think that I will stop in that case," Sunset told Tempest.

"Ok, now what do you want to know about my family?" Tempest said, her tone becoming serious.

"Well, I just want to know why you don't want to talk about your family," Sunset said. Tempest let what Sunset said sit in her mind.

"The reason is don't talk about my family very much is because I don't know them very well," Tempest said.

"Let me guess, you were kept hidden from them?" Sunset guessed.

"That's right; it was actually my father's idea. After an incident I had in my past, it was the best course of action we could take," Sunset said.

"Ok, then how do you explain that picture of your family?" Sunset asked curiously.

"That was sent to me by my mother and father, they were the only ones who knew about what happened to me," Tempest explained as she held the picture.

"So did anything happen to your family?" Sunset asked tentatively. Tempest stayed silent as she put the photo down, got up from the chair, and grabbed her weapon from her waist.

"My mother died," Tempest said sadly.

"Oh, well now I feel like a bit of a bad person now," Sunset said as she rubbed the back of her head.

"It's fine, just try not to tell anyone else about it," Tempest said.

"Ok, so that's your weapon?" Sunset asked.

"They are, my mother actually designed these for me and I named them for my appreciation for her. These are known as the Frost Edges," Tempest told Sunset.

"Wow, I guess they mean a lot to you then. Do you want to see my weapon?" Sunset said.

"I wouldn't mind," Tempest said. Sunset grabbed the container on her waist and opened it to grab her weapon. Sunset reached in, grabbed her weapon, and pulled it out of the container.

"This is my weapon, I call it the Solar Divider," Sunset said as she showed it to Tempest.

"That is an interesting choice of weapon, I've never seen someone with twin swords before," Tempest said.

"Well, I could say the same thing about your elbow blades, so let's just leave it there," Sunset said jokingly. Tempest laughed at that statement and Sunset soon followed.

"You know, you're a good person Sunset," Tempest commented as she smiled.

"I could say the same about you; I've never been very social with anyone, but you seem different for some reason," Sunset told Tempest. Sunset then heard her Scroll ring from her pocket.

"Who could that be?" Tempest asked as Sunset took out her Scroll. When Sunset looked at the screen, she saw that she had an email from Ozpin.

"It's from Ozpin," Sunset said as she quickly opened the mail.

"What does it say?" Tempest asked curiously. After a few seconds of reading the mail, Sunset looked at Tempest.

"It says that he needs to speak to the both of us," Sunset said.

"Well, you want to take my bike to Beacon or do you want to walk?" Tempest asked.

"I think the bike is a better idea," Sunset said.

"Then let's go," Tempest said as she moved toward the garage door. The two girls entered the garage and put the helmets they left on the bike on. Tempest got on the bike and turned it on while Sunset grabbed Tempest's waist. "You ready Sunset?" Tempest asked.

"I'm ready," Sunset said nervously. A few moments later, the two were on the road to Beacon.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: A Team's Formation & A Beginning Mission**

After a few minutes of riding, Sunset and Tempest eventually arrived at Beacon. "Come on, I'm curious as to what Ozpin wants to see us for," Tempest said as she turned off the bike. As they entered the school and started to head towards, the two bumped into two people who were running the opposite way. The four of them fell on the ground after they bumped in.

"Sorry, we were in a hurry," a girl said.

"Its fine, it was our problem for not paying attention," Sunset said as she and Tempest got up. When Tempest saw the people who they bumped into, her breath caught as she noticed the girl in particular.

"Well, then sorry, but we have to go," the male told them before they both ran off. As she girl ran past, Tempest noticed a familiar weapon on her hip.

"I recognize that weapon," Tempest thought.

"Hey, come on, weren't you the one in a rush?" Sunset asked, breaking Tempest's trance.

"Oh, yeah I'm coming," Tempest said as she followed Sunset. Eventually, the two arrived at Ozpin's office and saw a girl in a red coming out of the office.

"Oh, you must be students that Ozpin wanted to meet with," the girl said as she turned to them.

"We are, why do you ask?" Sunset asked.

"Well, because Ozpin said that he was going to meet with two potential students and I figure you two must be them," the girl said in an upbeat tone.

"Oh, well that makes a bit of sense," Sunset said.

"Wait a second, are you a student here?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Yes, I started last semester," the girl told Tempest.

"Well, you must have impressed Ozpin a lot. You look to be about two years younger than most of the students here," Tempest commented.

"You noticed, well you're right. Ozpin actually offered to make me come to Beacon after seeing how good I was after an incident with someone," the girl said.

"That's amazing, what's your name?" Sunset commented and asked.

"The name is Ruby Rose," the girl said.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Ruby, but we have to get to a meeting," Tempest said as she opened the door.

"It was nice meeting you two, I hope to see you next semester," Ruby said as she walked off.

"She seems nice," Sunset commented as she entered the room.

"Ah, I see you two have met with Ruby. She's a good kid, but I expect great things from her," Ozpin commented as they entered the room.

"Did you need to see us Mr. Ozpin?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, I wanted to speak with you and Sunset about a mission before you enter Beacon," Ozpin told the two as he stood from his desk.

"What was the mission you had in mind?" Sunset asked.

"The mission I had in mind is for you two, along with some of your friends, to go to an abandoned White Fang base on the edge of Vale," Ozpin told them. Ozpin then went to his computer and pulled up a map on a screen.

"A few days ago, before I met either of you two, we received information that there were multiple abandoned White Fang facilities located throughout the surrounding area. We thought nothing of it, until we decided to send Tempest to investigate one in the forest. Tempest, after analyzing the files you gave me from that mission I gave you to see if you were ready, we found that there was only one file in there and it was labeled Project: Freelancer. Does that ring any bells?" Ozpin explained.

Tempest and Sunset thought about the name in silence until Tempest snapped her fingers in realization. "I recognize that name; it's the code name for the Atlas Project to make a small, specialized army of Hunters and Huntresses known as Freelancers. What would the White Fang be doing with that?" Tempest commented.

"Well before I get to that, Sunset have you read about that Project?" Ozpin said to Sunset.

"I think I remember reading about that a while back," Sunset said.

"Well, what both you and Sunset read about was the information that was released to the public. Atlas didn't release much except the basic details about the Project. The unsettling thing is that the files we found in the White Fang's position were nearly complete files about Project: Freelancer. Most of the details about the Project were present and that made me wonder if Atlas had been hacked into," Ozpin explained to the two of them.

"Wait, you said most of the details were present, what did you mean by that?" Tempest asked.

"Well, from what we deduced, it appeared that someone did try to stop the data from being stolen because we noticed that some of it was deleted. All the real names and code names of the agents were not there and all the logs that pertained to missions were mostly destroyed or some parts were missing," Ozpin explained.

"So, I'm going to guess that you're telling us this because it pertains to the mission you're about to give us?" Sunset asked curiously.

"Exactly, what I want you two to do is look to see if you can find if that place has more information on Project: Freelancer or anything else like that," Ozpin told the two.

"Very well, how will we let you know when we are done?" Tempest asked. Ozpin thought about that for a second and thought about a good place.

"I would like you to meet me at a coffee shop that I like to go to by the name of Stellar Roast," Ozpin told the two.

"That seems fair, when should we do this mission?" Sunset asked.

"I would recommend today as starting in two days, I need to start preparing things for next semester," Ozpin said.

"Very well, is that all you wanted to speak to us about?" Tempest asked.

"Yes it is, you may go now," Ozpin said. The two turned and walked out of the office. After they both left, Ozpin heard a call coming in from his computer. He turned to his computer and saw who was calling. " _Well, I wasn't expecting a call from her anytime soon,_ " Ozpin thought as he answered the call.

"Hello, Ozpin are you there?" the caller asked.

"I'm here and by myself, what did you need to talk about Sol?" Ozpin responded.

"Well, I just thought I would call and see how everything is going before you started up school again," Sol told Ozpin.

"Well, it's going well, I just sent two new students on that mission I was telling you about. How about you, how has your life been going?" Ozpin said.

"Well, it's about the usual, the only interesting thing that has happened recently is my student becoming like me and having her own castle," Sol told Ozpin.

"Ah yes, how is your student doing by the way?" Ozpin asked.

"She's doing relatively well, the pressure of her job is getting her, but her friends are there to help her through a lot of the troubles," Sol said.

"Ah, it's good to see that she has help from her friends in that case," Ozpin said a smile forming on his face.

"Well, I better get going, I have thing that I need to do," Sol said.

"See you later Sol," Ozpin said before he hung up. After he hung up, he got up and left his office to go for a walk around Beacon.

* * *

"Ok, so what exactly are we going to do about this mission?" Tempest asked as they walked up to Tempest's bike. Sunset thought about that for a moment before she heard her Scroll ring as someone called her.

"Hang on, I'm getting a call," Sunset said as she got out her Scroll and answered the phone.

"Hey Sunset, are you there?" Nova's voice came from the Scroll.

"Hey Nova, what did you need?" Sunset asked.

"Well, you see something weird happened. Me, Storm, Nitro, and Nitro's family all got a message on our Scrolls," Nova told her.

"Really, who sent the message and what did it say?" Sunset asked curiously.

"Well, Ozpin sent us the message that said to meet together so that you and someone called Tempest could talk to us about something," Nova explained. Sunset processed that information and sighed as she heard Tempest do the same.

"Ok, where are you right now?" Sunset asked.

"Well, we're at Nitro's house," Nova told her.

"Wait for me there, I'm on my roll," Sunset said hanging up the Scroll and putting it away. Sunset then saw Tempest sitting on the bike.

"Let me guess, your friend called you and said they were waiting at a house because of a message of they received from Ozpin?" Tempest asked as Sunset got on.

"Same happen to you?" Sunset responded as she put on the helmet.

"No, I overheard the conversation that you two had. I know where to go, so hang on," Tempest said as she started the bike. Sunset grabbed on and the two headed off to the meeting place.

* * *

After a few minutes, the two of them arrived in front of Nova's house. "So, this is the house that they are meeting in?" Sunset said as she took off the helmet and got off the bike.

"Yes it is, I know pretty much all the people that live here by the way," Tempest told Sunset as they approached the door. Tempest knocked on the door and it opened to reveal Nova on the other side of the door.

"Sunset, there you are. How did you get here so fast?" Nova asked.

"Well, I rode with Tempest here, the other student Ozpin mentioned," Sunset told him.

"Oh, then I guess we can introduce everyone and you two can explain what we are doing," Nova said as he let them in. After introducing everyone to each other, they all meet up in the living room of the house.

"So, what did Ozpin talk to you about in terms of the mission?" Phaze asked as she brought out drinks for everyone.

"Well, do you guys know of any White Fang bases around Vale that have been abandoned?" Tempest asked.

"I know of a few, I like to wander and see what I can find," Wind told the two.

"The one we're going to look at is the edge of Vale," Sunset mentioned.

"I think I know the one you're talking about, it's the one that is located to the northeast of the city," Nova commented.

"That is correct," Tempest said as she brought out the map of where they are going.

"That's awesome, when do we get to go?" Emrel asked in an excited tone. Shade then smacked the back of her brothers head which caused everyone to giggle at the sight.

"You and me can't go you dummy, we have to stay here," Shade told Emrel.

"You two can actually come along," Phaze told the two.

"Really, we can!" they both exclaimed.

"Well, Phaze can't necessarily leave you two alone, plus I think I'll take both of you with me to help," Tempest told the two.

"So, I imagine that you two will need teams to help with the task?" Nitro asked.

"Well, I think that is why Ozpin sent you all the messages, he wants you all to for teams with either me or Tempest," Sunset explained.

"Well, if it's ok with you all, I'm going to stick with Sunset," Storm said after being silent for the entire combination.

"I think me and Nova are going with Sunset as well," Nitro said.

"I think that it would be good if we are with teammates who we are friends with and have two separate teams," Tempest suggested.

"I actually think that is a good idea, it's easier to have better cooperation with people who know each other," Nova commented.

"That does make a lot of sense, so I imaging that you two will choose the teams in that case?" Wind asked.

"I think that will be a good idea, so do you want to go first Sunset?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, if we want to go with people that I know of as teammates, I believe that I want Nova, Storm, and Nitro on my team," Sunset said.

"In that case, I guess I'll take Emrel, Phaze, Shade, and Wind for my team," Tempest said. After the teams were decided and everyone moved to their respective leader, they all decided to work on a plan together.

"So as far as me and Tempest know, we don't know anything about the layout of that place or where anything is stored and we can just assume that it is completely abandoned," Sunset explained to everyone.

"Well, I've seen that place from a distance and it looked completely abandoned. No guards looking over the place, no people that work to maintain it, it looked completely abandoned from where I was standing," Nova commented.

"Well, how about we make two different jobs for each team?" Wind suggested.

"That would make the most sense, especially because if we have two groups doing two different things, we can get this done faster," Tempest commented.

"I can see the advantage in splitting into two groups, but how should go about deciding which of us goes where?" Sunset asked.

"Well, since Wind knows what the general area and shape of it is, I would say that Sunset's team should take the outside and see if anyone is coming to the facility," Tempest suggested.

"I think that sounds good, so I guess that means that you five will take care of the inside of the facility?" Sunset asked curiously.

"That would be correct," Tempest said.

"So, is that all we are going to do in terms of planning?" Phaze asked.

"I think so for now, we can decide what to do for our individual teams when we arrive at the facility," Tempest said as she got up.

"I agree with that," Sunset said as she got up.

"Well in that case, should we go to the facility?" Tempest asked. Everyone nodded and they all took off to the abandoned facility.

* * *

After about an hour of travel, the nine of them arrived at the facility they were going to investigate. "So, now that we're here what is the plan?" Wind asked as he looked over the facility.

"Well, since we know what team is going where, we know which part of the facility we are going to go," Phaze told Wind.

"Hey Sunset, what is your team going to do on the outside?" Tempest asked.

"Well, I suppose that my team can be on the lookout for anyone that happens to come by," Sunset said.

"In that case, we should keep in constant contact so we know what is going on," Tempest said as she got out her Scroll.

"I think that is a good idea for everyone," Phaze commented to the group. After about a minute or two, everyone had exchanged their Scroll information with each other.

"Now that that is done, shall we get this mission started?" Sunset asked everyone. Everyone nodded in agreement as they all started to go and wait for their leaders.

"Hey, good luck to you," Tempest said extending her hand.

"Same to you," Sunset said as she shook her hand. As Sunset shook Tempest's hand, she felt a tingling sensation go throughout her arm. Thinking it was her imagination; she finished shaking Tempest's hand and went to go join her team.

* * *

After separating the two teams, Tempest and her team had entered the inside of the facility. "Why is there an open window?" Wind asked Tempest.

"Someone must have left it open before they evacuated," Tempest said.

"Maybe there is someone in this facility," Shade suggested.

"Whatever the reason, it might be smart to keep an eye out for anyone that we might see or any computers that have been recently used," Phaze said.

"Well, I think that we should stick together and try to look for leads to Project Freelancer," Tempest told her team.

"Ok, so we have to look for thing like computers and marks right?" Emrel asked curiously.

"Well, that would be ideal," Tempest told Emrel.

"Would the claw marks at the end of the hallway count as a good direction to start?" Emrel said as he pointed at the farther end of the hall. When the team looked over at where Emrel was pointing and saw several claw marks close to the end of the hall along the walls.

"I think that it would be worth checking out, nice eye Emrel," Tempest said as she hurried to that part of the hall. As Tempest got to the end of the hall and looked around the corner, she saw a sight that horrified her and left her speechless.

"Hey, what did you find?" Wind asked as he and the others arrived. What they saw Tempest looking at was a hallway that was covered claw marks and blood along parts of the walls.

"Oh my god, what happened here?" Phaze said out of astonishment as she looked at the sight in front of her. No one said anything as they all looked at the scene in front of them.

"Hey, should we get a move on?" Wind asked awkwardly. Phaze, Shade, and Emrel all agreed to that, but Tempest stayed silent. "Tempest, are you going to go see if you can find anyone alive?" Wind asked her.

"I'm going to do that and I don't care if you have any objections," Tempest said.

"We're not going to say anything; you go do what you have to do," Wind told her. Tempest simply nodded and ran down the hall to go see if there was anyone left alive.

"You know, that girl might be a good leader, but she is really thick headed when it comes to helping people," Phaze commented.

"I agree, come on let's look for evidence of Project Freelancer," Wind told the remaining three. They all nodded and proceeded to go away from the hall where Tempest was running down.

"So what do you think that we'll find?" Phaze asked as they started to walk down to the other end of the hall.

"Maybe some more of the documents, remember Tempest and Sunset mentioned that the files they had had a lot of the data missing," Shade commented as she remembered what the two had told everyone.

"Well, I don't think that it will be easy. I think the files will be hidden behind a lot of security," Emrel chimed in.

"Emrel's got a point there," Wind said. Emrel smiled at that compliment and walked a little faster.

"Well, even if we aren't able to find anything on Project Freelancer, we should be able to find at least some form of information regarding what they we're doing here," Phaze said.

"So, what are we going to do in terms finding a computer room?" Wind asked the group.

"Well, we could search for a computer room," Shade suggested.

"That would make the most sense," Emrel said. With that, the four of them went off down the opposite end of the hall to look for a computer room of sorts.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tempest was running down the bloodstained hall looking for anyone that was alive. "Hello, is anyone here?" Tempest called as she passed by a room. She quickly stopped and turned around to check the room she just passed. When she looked inside, she saw what looked to be an observation room. "An observation room? Why would the White Fang have something like this?" Tempest thought as she stepped into the room.

As she stepped into the room, she noticed that the noticed that the window on the room was mostly covered in blood. " _That is never a good sign,_ " Tempest thought as she looked around the room. She walked up to the desk that was in front of the window and looked through the papers that were left on it. " _Most of these are completely illegible from being torn up, but who or what tore these up and for what reason?_ " Tempest thought as she looked at the papers.

She was about to stop when she came across a clipboard and folder that seemed to be untouched. Curious, she grabbed the folder and opened it to view its contents. What she saw in the folder stunned her and she understood why the hall was the way it was. It was at that moment that she heard crying from the room that was being observed. "Is anyone there?" Tempest called out.

"Hello? Who's there?" a female voice replied. Thinking quickly, she put the folder and clipboard in her bag and hurried to the source of the voice.

"I was sent here by Beacon to investigate this place, but I mean you no harm," Tempest told the voice.

"By Beacon you say? Why do you want to help me?" the voice replied.

"It's just part of who I am," Tempest said as she entered what looked like a surgery room of sorts. The voice didn't reply as Tempest looked around the room. When she did, she saw several corpses of White Fang members around the room.

"Are you still there?" the voice called out. Tempest turned to her right and saw a White Fang member cowering behind a barricade.

"Of course I am," Tempest said as she got closer to the person. The White Fang member seemed to flinch away at first, but she recognized the voice immediately. "Here, you look like you could use some help," Tempest said as she extended her hand. The White Fang member slowly grabbed the hand and was helped to her feet.

"Thank you, who are you by the way?" the female Faunus asked. Tempest pulled the Faunus in close and leaned close to her head.

"The queen makes checkmate," Tempest whispered. That phrase made the White Fang member go wide-eyed. "Keep that a secret. Call me for Tempest for now," Tempest said.

"O-ok, you can call me Porom," the Faunus told Tempest.

"Well then Porom, would you like me to lead you out of the compound?" Tempest offered.

"I can't, I need to find my brother before that thing gets to him," Porom responded in a shaky voice before running off up the stairs. Tempest ran after her and grabbed her arm in the observation room. "Let me go, I need to find him," Porom said as she tried to escape Tempest's grasp.

"If you just go blindly without any way of finding your brother, you'll probably end like the other White Fang members that were here," Tempest told her in a commanding voice. That made Porom stop struggling and start to tremble. "Look, I'm on your side, I want to help you, but I need you to cooperate," Tempest told her in a caring tone.

"Fine, I'll cooperate. I just want to find my brother and get out of here," Porom said in a worried tone.

"Ok, let me contact another team that is here and see if they can help us," Tempest told Porom. Tempest let go of Porom's arm, took out her Scroll, and was about to call Sunset when she got a call from Storm. " _Storm? What does she need?_ " Tempest thought as she answered the call.

"Hey Tempest, are you there?" Storm asked.

"Yes I am, what did you need?" Tempest asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Were you in the middle of something?" Storm asked in a disappointed tone.

"Kind of, I was going to call Sunset to see if she could help me find the brother of a Faunus girl named Porom," Tempest told Storm. There was a moment of silence from Storm as she asked someone a question that Tempest couldn't here.

"Hey, could you put the call on speaker?" Storm asked.

"Sure, but why do you want me to do that?" Tempest responded.

"Just trust me, you'll have an easier time understanding if you just do it," Storm told Tempest. Tempest decided not to question it further and put the call on speaker.

"Ok, the call is on speaker for me," Tempest told Storm.

"I don't see why you're doing this; we need to find my brother," Porom told Tempest. Tempest was about to respond when an unfamiliar voice came through the Scroll.

"Porom, is that you?!" a voice said from the other end. Porom was very surprised and responded to the voice.

"Palom, is that you?" Porom asked out of surprise.

"It is me, without a doubt. Where are you sis?" Palom responded.

"I'm still inside the facility. Where did you go, I've been worried sick," Porom said.

"I was knocked out by someone, tied up, taken to a warehouse on the edge of the compound, and stuffed in a crate. I would have been stuck there if it weren't for Storm and Nitro here," Palom explained.

"We were just looking through some of the crates here when I happened to find him," Nitro chimed in.

"Thank you both for finding him, I really appreciate it," Porom told Nitro and Storm.

"It's no problem, but what were you two doing here anyway?" Storm responded. Palom and Porom both fell silent as they thought about what to say.

"Should we tell them sis?" Palom asked.

"I don't see why not. Besides, I don't think we should stick around with the White Fang any longer," Porom told him.

"Wait, are the both of you with the White Fang or not?" Tempest asked the two of them.

"Well, it's a long story, but let's just say that we've wanted an excuse to get out of the White Fang for a while," Palom responded.

"Ok, what do we do with you two at the moment?" Storm asked the two. Palom and Porom were both silent as they considered their options.

"Well, at the moment, I think the best thing for us to do would be to meet up," Porom suggested.

"I agree, the sooner we get out of here and away from that thing the better," Palom said. It was at that point that Tempest realized something.

"Hey Palom and Porom, what exactly were the White Fang doing here anyway?" Tempest asked curiously.

"I don't know the exact details, but I know it had yellow eyes," Palom commented. That statement caused Tempest, as well as Storm and Nitro, to involuntarily tense up.

"Hey Palom, was this thing a Grimm by any chance?" Storm asked.

"It was, why do you ask?" Porom responded. When Porom said that, Tempest immediately looked back at the door to the surgery room.

"Ok, so how about we go meet up with the rest of our respective teams and leave the compound?" Tempest suggested.

"That seems fair; we'll call you later and see where we can meet up?" Storm responded.

"Ok, see you later," Tempest said before hanging up the call.

"So, where is the rest of your team?" Porom asked as Tempest put away her Scroll.

"Well, I might have an idea, just follow me," Tempest told Porom. Porom nodded in response and the two went back to the hallway there Tempest's team entered.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: A Complication & A Mission's End**

Meanwhile, on the other side of the facility, Wind and the others were in a computer room trying to get access to one of the computers. "Ok, we are logged on to the network," Emrel said as he finished up his hacking.

"How did you get so good at hacking into computers again?" Phaze asked as she stood watch just at the door.

"Do you remember when me and Wind had out Scrolls stolen?" Shade said as she looked at a computer screen, trying to decipher a code on screen.

"Of course, that was one of the scariest moments that you have ever caused me. So you're telling me that Emrel was able to catch the thieves and get back your Scrolls?" Phaze questioned.

"That would be exactly what happened. Now I don't know the specifics myself as to how Emrel got into hacking, he was able to not only find where our Scroll were, but was also able to determine the identities of who stole them," Wind commented as he helped Shade.

"All I'm going to say is that sometimes you pick up some skills that you will use in the future," Emrel said as he got out a small computer. Before Phaze could comment, she heard the sound of two people running down the hallway.

"Quiet! Someone's coming!" Phaze said. The whole room went quiet as two people rushed by the door way and continued to run for a little before stopping. After a few seconds, Phaze felt her Scroll vibrate against the wall. They then heard the footsteps come closer as he Scroll stopped vibrating.

"You know, you could have just called out if it was me," Tempest said as she entered the room and everyone else calmed down.

"Well, excuse us for being on guard," Wind said as he walked up to her.

"Hey, just to let you know we got a few things from the computers in the room and are currently working on downloading them," Phaze said as she kept a watch.

"That's very good, get what you can and get ready to go," Wind said.

"Well, I can tell that someone wants to get this mission done quickly, but if I may ask, why do you seem so panicked?" Shade asked as she got of the computer. Tempest then noticed that she was shaking and smiled.

"How did you figure that out?" Tempest responded in a proud tone.

"Well, you seem to be in a hurry to get out of this place quickly and I noticed you seemed to be a bit nervous about something," Shade said.

"What's going on Tempest?" Wind asked.

"Well, to explain I need for you all to meet a friend I made while I was off by myself," Tempest said as she let Porom into the room.

"Who is this Tempest?" Phaze asked cautiously.

"Well, this is Porom. She is a now former member of the White Fang who was sent here to investigate what happened at this facility," Tempest introduced in a caring tone.

"Hello," Porom said nervously.

"Wait, you said former member right? Does that mean she is on our side?" Emrel asked as he put away the computer.

"That would be correct, after what I saw and found out, I don't want to be a part of the White Fang anymore," Porom said as she visibly shuddered. Wind and the others looked at each other, unsure whether to trust her or not. Before anyone could say anything, a roar echoed throughout the compound.

"No time to talk, we need to get out of here now!" Tempest ordered her team in a worried tone as she went to the door and got her weapon out.

"Wait, that sounded like a Grimm. How did it get inside the facility, and more importantly, inside Vale?" Emrel said as he got out an assault rifle.

"That would be the White Fangs fault," Porom said in a panicked tone.

"If we may ask, what exactly is out there?" Phaze asked as she got out a blaster of sorts.

"Well, how does a Rabid Grimm sound to you?" Tempest responded in a slightly awkward tone. As soon as the sentence left her mouth, everyone else stopped out of terror.

"The White Fang managed to get a Rabid Grimm into the city. How did they do that and what were they thinking?" Shade said in an annoyed tone as she got out a black shield with a sword in it.

"Can we talk about this later? Right now, we need to get out of this place," Wind said as he brandished a katana.

"Wind is right, we need to meet up with Sunset and the others so we can get the hell out of here," Tempest said in a commanding tone. Everyone just nodded in response and ran towards the entrance to the facility.

* * *

After running to the entrance of the facility, they saw that the entrance was open and they heard fighting outside. "I think either they found the Rabid Grimm first or the other way around," Wind commented quietly as Tempest surveyed the situation.

"Now, I don't think I've ever encountered one of these things so could someone explain to me what a Rabid Grimm is?" Porom asked curiously.

"Well, in terms of appearance, they look like normal Grimm except for the yellow eyes. In terms of power, they have something akin to an Aura so they are harder to kill, their attacks are very strong, and it takes about five teams in order to take one down," Phaze explained.

"Oh," Porom said in a now terrified tone.

"Hey, I've got good news and bad news," Tempest said as she rejoined her team.

"What is that bad news?" Shade asked with a sigh.

"Well, the Rabid Grimm is fighting Sunset's team outside and it seems to be keeping them from leaving," Tempest said.

"Oh, that's just swell," Emrel said.

"The good news is that we might be able to escape if we can keep the Grimm distracted for long enough," Tempest said.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Sunset and her team are already taking care of that," a voice said from the entrance. Tempest turned and saw the Faunus she assumed was Palom coming into the facility.

"Palom, I'm glad you're alright," Porom said happily.

"Hey, I was with some good people," Palom said quietly as he kneeled down on the wall opposite them.

"Before we continue, I would like you all to meet my brother Palom. We were both sent here by the White Fang, but we're not going to be with them anymore," Porom said in a quiet, cheerful tone.

"Hey, if you don't mind me being rude and asking, why are Sunset and the others fighting the Rabid Grimm?" Wind asked curiously.

"Well, they wanted to make a distraction so I could find you," Palom explained.

"Ok, so did they tell you what to do after you found us?" Porom asked curiously.

"Well, I imagine that would be to leave," Palom said.

"There is no way I'm leaving Sunset's team here to face that thing on their own," Tempest said as she got up to go help Sunset's team.

"Hang on, if you just rush in head first like that, you'll get yourself killed like that," Phaze said as she grabbed Tempest's arm to stop her.

"Do you expect me to just stay here and leave them to fend for themselves?" Tempest responded in a panicked tone. Wind then got up and grabbed Tempest by the elbows

"Hey, we want to save them as well, but we won't get anywhere if we just charge in, we need to come up with a plan," Wind told Tempest as he shook her. After he finished shaking her, Tempest regained her composure from her momentary freak out.

"You're right; we need to come up with a plan. Sorry about the freak out by the way," Tempest said in an apologetic tone.

"Its fine, we all have out things we need to freak out about and apparently we found yours," Shade said in a sympathetic tone.

"Yeah, so at the moment I'm trying to decide whether we should get Palom and Porom to safety or to help Sunset and the others leaving Palom and Porom here," Tempest told everyone.

"Actually, we might have a solution that will make that decision easier," Porom said as she walked over to her brother.

"Oh right, I completely forgot about that because we haven't used it in a while," Palom said as she got up.

"What are you two talking about?" Emrel asked.

"Well, you see, me and Palom are fraternal twins. That may seem obvious, but we discovered something that makes a bit unique," Porom explained as she grabbed her brother's hand.

"What would that be?" Wind asked.

"Well, why don't we just show you?" Palom said as he smiled. Before anyone could respond, they hear Porom say "Vanish!" and the two disappeared right in front of them. This naturally surprised everyone as they didn't know what was going on.

"Were you all surprised?" Palom asked, her voice coming from where she was last standing.

"Of course we are. What did you do, I've never seen something like that before," Emrel said out of amazement.

"I would recommend we talk about this after all of us get out of here," Palom interrupted.

"Oh right, well since Palom and Porom can get out just fine, I guess we know what we're doing," Shade said.

"You got that right. Before we go though, I have to ask them something," Tempest said as she looked out the entrance.

"What did you want to ask?" the two asked while invisible.

"Will you be able to find your way out safely?" Tempest asked.

"Of course we will be able to, why do you ask?" Palom responded.

"Just making sure," Tempest said.

"So, are we going to go help already?" Phaze asked.

"Well, I think we should. Come on," Tempest said as she started to run out of the building towards the Grimm.

"What are we going to do about a plan?" Wind called out.

"We'll come with one while we're fighting," Tempest responded.

"Is she always like that?" Palom asked curiously as they reappeared.

"We haven't known her for that long, but she's friendly. That headstrong attitude hers is probably going to get us in a lot of trouble in the near future," Wind said before heading after her.

"Sorry to leave you two here, but we have to go help our leader," Phaze said as she started to leave.

"Don't worry about us, just worry about getting out of here," Shade said as both she and Phaze ran off.

"Hey, what's your name?" Porom asked Emrel before he left.

"It's Emrel, why do you ask?" Emrel responded as Porom walked up to him.

"Well, I want you to give this to Tempest," Porom said as she held out her hand. Emrel saw that there was a small disk with the symbol of a flame on it.

"What's this?" Emrel asked as he grabbed it.

"It's something that will come in handy for her, tell her to put it on her bracelet," Porom said, which surprised Palom a little.

"I don't really understand, but I'll be sure to give it to her. Stay safe you two," Emrel said before running off to join his team.

"Hey, are you sure giving that to Tempest is the best idea?" Palom asked in a cautious tone as he walked up to his sister.

"I saw that she had the bracelet, I know we can trust her," Porom told her brother.

"Ok, if you say so. Now, let's get out this place," Palom said as he grabbed his sisters hand awkwardly. Porom said nothing as she cast the Vanish spell again. The two then turned invisible and left the facility to look for a safe exit.

* * *

Back with Sunset and the others, they weren't having the best time. "Any luck getting through the Aura of this thing?!" Sunset yelled to Storm as they both shot arrows at it.

"No luck yet from what I can tell, our attacks alone aren't enough to hurt it," Storm responded as they dodged from a claw that was coming towards them. After they dodged the attack, a blast of energy came from behind them and knocked back the Ursa. Sunset and Storm looked in the direction that the blast came from and saw Tempest running up to them.

"Hey, are we late to the party?" Tempest said as the rest of her team ran up behind her.

"No, you're not, but we expected you five to be helping Palom and Porom get out of here," Sunset said as she panted.

"They'll be taking care of that themselves. Now that we're here what do you think about some help?" Tempest said in a bit of a cocky tone.

"You know, we kind of need that right now," Storm said with a smile.

"Ok, then I'll stay with you two. Shade and Emrel, you two go help Nitro while Wind and Phaze go help Nova," Tempest ordered her team. Everyone nodded and ran off to their respective places, but Emrel stopped and ran back after he remembered something.

"Tempest, Porom asked me to give these to you," Emrel said as she gave Tempest the disks.

"What are these things?" Tempest asked as she looked over the disks.

"I don't know exactly, but Porom said to put this one in your bracelet first," Emrel said as he pointed to the one with Tempest's symbol on it.

"Ok, I'll do it. You better go with your sister," Tempest told Emrel.

"Got it, good luck you three," Emrel said before running off. Tempest simply walked up between Sunset and Storm as she put the disk on the front of the bracelet. After she inserted it, Tempest noticed that the ten buttons flashed different colors before all turning white.

" _Looks like this thing is finally working for me,_ " Tempest thought as she put her Frost Edges together to form a short sword.

"I've been meaning to ask about that bracelet by the way," Sunset commented as she looked at the bracelet.

"Well, I've also been meaning to ask you about that gauntlet, but as you tell, now is not exactly the best time to ask that," Tempest said as the Grimm got up from the floor.

"Agreed, I'll tell you and Storm about my gauntlet later if you tell us about your bracelet," Sunset said as she changed her Solar Divider to its twin blade mode.

"I would opt out of this, but I guess I could actually try to make a new friend," Storm said sarcastically as she changed her weapon into an assault rifle. The Grimm got back up and let out a big roar.

"Hey, you all ready or what?" Tempest called to everyone.

"Of course we are," they all responded in a confident tone.

"Ok then, let's take this thing down," Tempest said as she charged forward at the Grimm.

"She's really fearless isn't she?" Sunset asked curiously.

"No, something tells me that it's a drive to help her friends that does that. Weather that's a good or bad thing, we'll see in the future," Storm said before following Tempest's lead.

"Fighting for your friends, that's something that I can get behind," Sunset thought before quickly running to catch up. Unknown to both her and Tempest, something inside the both of them resonated quietly.

* * *

As Tempest got closer she noticed several shots and blasts coming from the left and right of the Grimm. The Grimm wasn't flinching at all, which meant its protection was still up. "Tempest!" Storm called out as she and Sunset ran up beside her.

"You two ready to hold this thing off?" Tempest asked. Sunset and Storm just nodded as Storm stopped and aimed her assault rifle at the Ursa.

"Try this on for size!" Storm said as a three round burst of Wind came from her gun. When the rounds hit, they created a force of wind and staggered the Grimm. As the Grimm staggered, both Sunset and Tempest slashed at its legs. Nova then jumped above the Grimm and delivered a cleave to it's torso with his ax.

"How's that for an attack?!" Nova bragged confidently. The Grimm then recovered and swiped a claw at Nova, knocking him back.

"Nova!" Sunset called out of worry. Phaze then ran up an launched a blast of energy at the Grimm getting its attention.

"Shade! Emrel! Move in now!" Tempest yelled as the Grimm was distracted. Shade then too this opportunity to pop out of the Grimm's shadow and impale it with her spear while Emrel ran up and fired several rounds from his assault rifle at it. Tempest and Sunset noticed that when the bullets impacted, they left areas of pure darkness on the Rabid Grimm's fur.

"Sis, you know what to do!" Emrel called as he changed his assault rifle into a lance and charging at the Grimm. Shade responded by taking her weapon, pull it out of the Rabid Grimm, which propelled her to the ground, and started to concentrate. The Grimm, noticing that Shade had lowered her guard, was about to swipe a claw at her when half of the areas of darkness shot out chains that held the Grimm in place. Emrel, along with Nitro who had turned his dual pistols into a katana, attacked the exposed parts of the Grimm.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what is Shade's semblance?" Sunset asked curiously as she and Tempest analyzed the situation.

"Umbrakinesis, the power over darkness and shadows as well as one of the ten elemental semblances," Tempest told Sunset.

"Huh, so she had one as well?" Sunset said out amazement.

"Yes, she… Wait, what did you say?" Tempest said when what Sunset said registered in her mind.

"Oh yeah, I have control over fire, Storm has control over wind, and Nova has control over light," Sunset explained. Before Tempest could question further, the Grimm broke free of the chains and smacked both Emrel and Nitro away.

"Emrel!" Shade yelled before the Grimm started to charge at her. Shade wouldn't have been able to dodge if Phaze didn't roll and get her out of the way.

"Tempest, we need to get out of here!" Phaze yelled as she ran to get Emrel and Nitro.

"I agree, Sunset can you lead us to the way you came into the facility?" Tempest asked quickly as she and Sunset started to back away.

"I can, but we'll need someone to distract the Grimm long enough," Sunset told Tempest. Just as the Grimm turned to them, Sunset and Tempest heard a voice behind them.

" **ZYUOH FINAL!** "

After the voice said that, a blast of energy came from behind them and struck the Grimm in the chest, which sent it flying backwards and knocked it to the ground. Everyone turned to the source of the blast and saw an armored warrior with a red parka on carrying what looked like a cube-shaped blaster walking towards them. Sunset and Tempest noticed that the helmet had the symbol of an eagle on it and a sickle like horn sticking out. "Hey, did you call for some help?" the female warrior asked.

"We did, but who are you?" Sunset aside as she was still tense. The warrior turned away as she thought about that for a little before turning back.

"I'm a student at Beacon, the name is Kamen Rider Buki," she said as she looked towards the Rabid Grimm.

"Well, we appreciate the help Ms. Buki, but are you sure that you can take that Grimm?" Phaze said in a worried tone as she helped Shade and Emrel.

"Just Buki is fine, and I wouldn't worry too much about that thing. I'm pretty sure the attack I just used knocked it out cold," Buki said as she looked at the weapon she was holding. The entire group turned to the Rabid Grimm and saw that it was motionless as it lay on the ground.

"Well, even if you did kill it, I still say we get out of here," Nova said as he started to put his weapon away.

"Agreed," everyone but Buki said as they did the same to their weapons. With that, the ten people present rushed to the place where Sunset entered from. When they got there, they were greeted with Palom and Porom waiting there for them.

"You're all still alive," Porom said in a happy tone.

"What are you two doing here, I thought we told you to get out of here," Tempest said as she walked over to them.

"We were going to leave, but we decided to wait for you all," Palom said as he started to climb the wall.

"I can see you're eager to get out of here, and I really suggest we do, but where are we going now?" Porom asked before they took off.

"Well, apparently Ozpin wants to meet us a place called Stellar Roast, but I'm pretty sure none of us know where that is," Sunset said as she looked at everyone who was there.

"Actually, I've been there a few times myself, so I can guide you there," Buki chimed in.

"Really? You go to a coffee shop?" Wind asked out of confusion.

"You know that Buki isn't my real name, it's just the one I use when I have the armor on," Buki said.

"Oh, well you don't mind leading us to the café?" Shade asked curiously.

"Not at all, after all, it was Ozpin who told me to keep an eye on you in case anything went wrong," Buki said. Before anyone could react, they all heard a roar from the direction the Grimm was at.

"Less talking, more running!" Palom said as he hopped off the wall. No one else complained as the all either climbed over or jumped over the wall. After they were all on the ground, everyone quickly sprinted away from the facility.

"Hey Sunset, would you say that this was a successful mission?" Tempest asked as they ran.

"I think it is, I mean, even if we didn't find out anything about Project: Freelancer, we still found out some things," Sunset said in response.

* * *

After running up to some of the buildings near the edge of Vale, everyone stopped and rest for a moment while Sunset contacted Ozpin. "So, when did you want us to meet up?" Sunset asked Ozpin over the call.

"Well, how about an hour?" Ozpin responded.

"That seems fair, should me and Tempest come without our teams?" Sunset questioned.

"I would recommend that. I would also suggest bringing Palom and Porom along. Don't worry, I would just want to ask them a few questions about the White Fang," Ozpin said.

"Ok, thanks for the information Ozpin. We'll see you an hour," Sunset said as she hang up. Sunset walked back to the group as they were resting and recovering.

"What did Ozpin say?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, he said you me, Palom, Porom, and Buki should head to the place in about an hour," Sunset said.

"That's fair in all honesty, that gives us time to rest while you five go meet with Ozpin," Wind said as he shook his head.

"So, we each go to a place where we can exchange our information and we meet up in an hour," Tempest suggested.

"I think that would be a good plan, but what do we do about Palom, Porom, and Buki?" Sunset asked out of curiosity.

"Well, the two of us can go with Sunset and Buki can go with Tempest?" Porom responded.

"I have no objections with that," Buki said in a nonchalant tone.

"Ok, well then we'll see you in about an hour," Sunset said as her team, along with Palom and Porom, started to get up.

"Where should we meet up?" Tempest asked as her team did the same.

"How about in front of Outer Haven?" Buki suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Sunset and Tempest said. With that, the two teams went their separate ways.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: A Mission Debriefing & A Meeting of Riders**

After separating from Sunset's team, Palom, and Porom, Tempest's team and Buki all headed to Phaze's house so they could explain what they had learned about on the inside of the facility. After getting everything that they collected ready, as well as food and drinks, Tempest noticed that Buki just kind of sat in a chair and looked around. "Hey Buki, if you don't mind me asking; why don't you get out of that armor and eat something?" Tempest asked nervously.

"Two reasons: First is that I'm honestly not that hungry. Second is that this isn't just like any ordinary armor, in order to take my armor off, I have to use this to cancel my transformation," Buki explained as she gestured to a belt that she was wearing. Tempest looked at the belt and saw that it was something that looked amazing and somewhat familiar to her.

"Well, why don't you want to get rid of your armor? After all, you look like you should this before," Tempest asked curiously.

"Because if I did, you and your team would have permanent nightmares and become extremely paranoid," Buki explained in a casual tone. Tempest responded to that by staying silent, listening over what Buki said in her mind to check if she was being serious, then slowly backed away, saying nothing as she did so. After a few minutes of rest, Tempest using the time to calm down after her conversation with Buki, everyone (minus Buki) started to talk about what they had found.

"Ok, so should we talk about what we all discovered inside that computer room or should Tempest tell us about what happened when she went down that hallway?" Wind asked as he looked at everyone. Tempest looked at everyone and saw that they were all looking at her.

"Really? No extra thought about this at all?" Tempest responded as she looked at them. Everyone just nodded in response and Tempest just let out a sigh of defeat. "Very well, but first I think you should all look at this," Tempest responded as she took out a folder. Tempest put the folder on the table and opened it to revile some papers.

"What are these papers about Tempest?" Shade asked curiously as she picked up the folder.

"Well, I didn't get much chance to read them, but it looks like those are reports from the White Fang that were based there," Tempest told Shade as she read them. After looking over the first page, Shade was shocked and her expression showed no different.

"What did you find out sis?" Emrel asked curiously.

"From what I'm reading, it appears that the White Fang were able to capture the Rabid Grimm we fought," Shade said out of complete shock.

"Wait, what did you say?" Tempest responded as she held out her hand for the folder. Shade simply gave Tempest the folder and brought out her own computer.

"Ok, if you don't mind me asking this question, what happened to the White Fang?" Buki asked curiously. Tempest simply stayed silent and looked down to the floor.

"They're dead, all of them," Tempest said in a somber tone. Everyone went silent as they processed what was told to them.

"Wow, that must have been a bit hard for you to see," Phaze said as she walked up to Tempest.

"To be honest, it was not that hard for me because of… "things" that happened in the past," Tempest said as she shuddered at a certain memory. Before Phaze could say anything else, Shade interrupted the conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I found something that might be relatively interesting for you to see," Shade said as she called everyone over. Everyone in the room went over to where Shade was sitting and waited for her to do something. "Tempest, remember when you found us in a computer room?" Shade asked.

"Of course I do, what did you all find in there anyway?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Well, for the most part, it was broken computers, but there were a few that did work," Wind commented.

"And it was one of those computers that I was able to hack and get some information from," Emrel told Tempest.

"What kind of information did you find?"Tempest questioned.

"Well, I found some incomplete files on Project Freelancer. Shade, however, was doing something else and uncovered something interesting," Emrel explained.

"I'll get the files from you in a little bit. For now, I want to hear what Shade found," Tempest said as she looked at Shade's computer screen.

"Um, let me do something real quick, Shade said as she got up and walked over to the TV with her laptop. After a few seconds of connecting some wires, Storm managed to get her computer screen to display on the TV.

"Nice job Shade," Phaze said simply as she was impressed with her daughter's work.

"Thanks for the compliment. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, after a bit of decrypting the files I found, I realized that they were reports by a scientist for the White Fang," Shade said as she pointed to the folder labeled reports.

"Ok, so we can summarize that there were some White Fang there recently. Do the reports say how recently?" Tempest asked curiously.

"They do, but I want to ask you something Tempest," Shade responded.

"Ok, what did you want to ask me?" Tempest said in a curious tone.

"Well, I just want your opinion on how long you think that the facility had been abandoned," Storm told Tempest.

"Well, I would assume that it's been abandoned for about two months," Tempest said as she thought about that.

"So, what would your reaction be if I told you that the entries in here were written a between a week ago and few hours before we arrived there," Shade said as she pulled up one of the reports. Tempest was about to say something when she realized what Shade was saying.

"Wait, so you mean to say that the White Fang were there for at least a week?" Tempest asked in a slightly shaky voice.

"Yes, and apparently these reports are being sent to someone known as Adam Taurus," Shade told everyone.

"I've heard about him, he's apparently a ruthless White Fang commander," Buki commented as she thought about something.

"You would be correct in that regard. Apparently he ordered them to research what makes the Rabid Grimm have an "aura" so the White Fang could use it for their own goals." Storm explained.

"Wow, I imagine that there is a lot of information to take in," Tempest said as she got up from he seat.

"It is, but I think I can go over that another time," Storm said as she brought out a small USB device and held it out to Tempest.

"What's this?" Tempest asked a she grabbed it.

"It's a USB that had all the files I was talking about along with the files that Emrel found," Shade told Tempest.

"Ok, so should I call Sunset and ask her if she, Palom, and Porom are ready?" Tempest asked curiously.

"I think that would be good; you can go out back if you need some privacy," Phaze offered.

"Thanks, if any of you need me, you know where I'll be," Tempest said as she walked towards the back and got her Scroll out. As she walked to the back, she dialed Sunset's number and put the Scroll up to her ear.

" _You know, you'll have to introduce me to her at some point,_ " Ace told her mentally.

" _I know, which is why you're going to talk to her for a little bit when I give you the signal,_ " Tempest told Ace mentally.

" _I appreciate it,_ " Ace said in a bit of a gleeful tone. After a few rings, she heard a voice on the other end.

"Hey Sunset, are you ready yet?" Tempest asked over the phone.

"We're just getting ready, how about you all?" Sunset responded as she entered her (temporary) room.

"We're fine, I'm just taking some time to myself and I decided to call you," Tempest said in a happy tone.

"I appreciate the thought, but why did you choose to call me?" Sunset asked as she lay down on her bed.

" _Time for you to take over,_ " Tempest told Ace as she let him take over.

" _Ok thanks, I'll be sure to leave a lasting impression,_ " Ace responded.

"Tempest, are you there?" Sunset asked in a worries tone.

"You felt it back then, didn't you?" Ace asked in a creepy tone.

"Tempest, what are you talking about?" Sunset responded in a worried tone.

"That gauntlet of yours, I know what you have beneath it," Ace told Sunset. When Sunset heard that, she felt a pulse come from her left arm. After she felt that, Sunset came to a quick conclusion.

"You're not Tempest, are you?" Sunset asked in a slightly strained voice.

"You are as smart as he says," the voice said.

" _He?_ " Sunset thought.

"Very well, my name is Ace. We shall meet again, Miss Shimmer," Ace said as it fell silent. After a few moments of silence, Tempest came back on the Scroll.

"So, I take it you meet Ace?" Tempest asked in a more serious tone. As Tempest spoke, Sunset felt the pulse in her felt arm dissipate.

"Yes I did; would you like to explain what that was all about?" Sunset responded as she shook her arm.

"I would, but I think it would be better if it was somewhere more private," Tempest suggested. Tempest heard that Sunset was about to retort until she faintly heard Storm's voice on the other end. After a few seconds of exchange on the other end of the call, Sunset came back.

"I agree with what you said, somewhere more private," Sunset said.

"Ok, then we'll bring up this topic later. For now, let's meet up in front of Dust Haven and go from there," Tempest told Sunset.

"Got it, I'll see you later," Sunset said as she ended the call. After Sunset hang up, Tempest put away her Scroll and walked back to the house.

" _Really Ace, you made a foreboding tone out of everything you could have done?_ " Tempest asked as she walked back.

" _Hey, I wanted to leave an impression,_ " Ace said in a nonchalant tone.

" _Fair enough, but did you have to do it in such a creepy manner?_ " Tempest asked curiously. Ace was about to answer, but Tempest felt him look ahead. Before Tempest could ask what was going on, she saw who Ace was staring at.

"Oh, hey Buki. How long have you been standing there?" Tempest asked in a slightly awkward tone.

"Long enough to see that you have a split personality," Buki said as she stopped leaning against the wall.

"Oh, so you saw that little thing?" Tempest asked in a scared tone.

"I did, and don't worry about it, your secret is safe with me," Buki told Tempest putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it," Tempest said in a happy tone.

"I just have one thing that I would like to request, but I suggest that we talk about that when we get to the place we're meeting at," Buki said as she opened the door.

"You are right, come on," Tempest said as she entered the house. After they entered the house, Tempest and Buki saw that the others were cleaning up the mess they had made.

"Oh, you finished talking with Sunset?" Phaze asked as she was carrying plates to the kitchen.

"I did and now we have to take off," Tempest told Phaze.

"Well then, we'll see you later," Phaze said as she put down the dishes on the table. As Phaze, Shade, and Emrel waved good bye to Tempest and Buki, Wind walked down the stairs holding a package of sorts.

"Hey Tempest, you and Buki are taking off?" Wind asked curiously.

"We are about to, why do you ask?" Tempest responded.

"Well, I just wanted to give you this," Wind said as he held out the package.

"For me, you didn't have to," Tempest said as she took it in her hands.

"Well, it was just something I found one day and I wanted you to have it," Wind said with a big smile on his face.

"Thank you, I don't know what to say," Tempest responded in an appreciative tone.

"Don't mention it, it was nothing," Wind told Tempest, a slight blush forming on his face.

"Hey, we should get going," Buki commented, interrupting the Wind and Tempest's moment.

"Oh, sorry about that," Wind said, a blush of embarrassment forming on his face.

"It's fine. Anyways, see you all later," Tempest told her teammates as she opened the door.

"Buy! / See you later!" everyone said as the two exited the house. After they exited, Tempest put away Wind's gift in her bag.

"You must really like him, don't you?" Buki asked in a slightly teasing tone.

"I do," Tempest said as she started to blush again.

"It's kind of cute, but I still think we should get there fast," Buki said as she concentrated for a moment. Just as Tempest was about to call her bike, she heard an engine start to come closer to her house. When she looked up, Tempest saw a bike waiting for them.

"Buki, is that your bike?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Yep, I call it the Machine Spirit," Buki told Tempest as she walked to the bike.

"Wow, I must admit I didn't expect you to have a bike," Tempest said as she looked at the bike.

"Hey, I have to have a way to travel around fast," Buki said as she got on the bike and grabbed a helmet from apparently nowhere. Buki then tossed the helmet to Tempest, which she caught and put on.

"You know, I was going to get my own bike, but I think this will be quicker," Tempest said as she got on the bike and held on to Buki's waist. Buki said nothing as she started the bike and rode off to their destination.

(hl)

After arriving at the mall, Buki and Tempest took a moment to collect themselves from the trip. "Wow, you drive really fast. Do you have no sense of safety?" Tempest asked as she stopped shaking.

"Kind of, but I also knew that we were in a bit of a rush, so I couldn't control myself," Buki told Tempest as she commended the Machine Spirit to return to Beacon.

"I can see why you would do that, but never do it again," Tempest said harshly.

"Sorry," Buki said in a slightly sad tone.

"Anyway, you wanted to ask about a request?" Tempest asked curiously as she calmed down.

"Yes, I did. Now to put it simply, one of my teammates wants to fight someone strong," Buki began to explain.

"So, you're looking to recommend me?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Both you and Sunset actually, but I'm not telling Sunset about this," Buki told Tempest.

"Why?" Tempest asked simply.

"Well, my friend said he was interested in her strength, so he has me watching out for her. When I noticed how you fight though, I became interested in you as a candidate," Buki explained.

"Well, why are you asking my permission if you wanted to recommend me anyway?" Tempest questioned curiously.

"I wanted to see if you were cool with it. You weren't the one I was originally watching," Buki told Tempest. Tempest stayed quiet in response as she thought of how to respond.

"You know what, I don't see any harm in that request," Tempest said in an upbeat tone.

" _Oh trust me, you will,_ " Buki thought to herself.

"So, you're going to tell him about me?" Tempest asked curiously.

"I will when I get a chance, but trust me when I say that you will need to be prepared when you fight him," Buki told Tempest. Tempest was about to say something else, but stopped when she noticed Sunset, Palom, and Porom were arriving.

"We'll talk about this more later," Tempest said as she motioned to the direction that the others were coming from.

"Agreed," Buki said in response. As they approached, Tempest walked forward slightly.

"Hey there you three, what took you so long?" Tempest asked as they walked up to her.

"Well, Storm's house isn't exactly the closest to this place," Sunset responded with a smile.

"It doesn't also help that we kind of took my bike here," Buki said.

"Wait, you have a bike? Then why don't I see it anywhere?" Palom asked curiously as he looked around.

"My bike is actually one of these bikes that have built in AI, so I just told it to head back to Beacon once we got here," Buki explained.

"Wait, you actually have one of those?" Porom asked in an amazed tone.

"I do, I take it that you are impressed," Buki responded in a slightly proud tone.

"Of course I am, I've always wanted to own one of those," Porom said out excitement. As Porom talked to Buki about the bike; Tempest, Sunset, and Palom, walked away from that little conversation.

"Wow, I didn't think that she would be into motorcycles. I mean, the last time I saw her, she wasn't that willing to do anything too crazy," Sunset commented out of surprise.

"You can partly blame me for that. I took her on a ride on my personal bike and since then, she has been obsessed with them," Palom said with a smile on his face.

"You know; we should probably get them and start heading to the Stellar Roast," Tempest told the two.

"Your right," Sunset and Palom both said simultaneously. Sunset and Palom both walked forward to go get their attention with Tempest following behind them. As Tempest was walking, she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them.

" _It might just be my own imagination, but with the way my life has been up to this point, it's better to be safe than sorry,_ " Tempest thought as she looked around the immediate area. After taking a quick look, Tempest didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

"Hey Tempest, you ready yet?" Sunset called out, breaking Tempest's train of thought.

"I'm coming," Tempest said as she ran up to the group.

"Why were you just standing there?" Palom asked curiously.

"Well, to be honest; I felt that there was someone watching us, so I took a look around," Tempest explained.

"Wait, why would you think someone was watching us?" Porom questioned.

"They might have been looking for me, and trust me when I say that some people have been looking for me for quite a while," Tempest explained as she remembered what had happened a few years ago.

"Oh, well if you think someone is watching us then we should get a move on," Sunset said in a surprised tone.

"Right," the others responded. With that, they all headed to the Stellar Roast, following Buki's directions.

(hl)

After a few minutes of walking and following Buki's directions, the group of five eventually arrived at the Stellar Roast. "So, this is the coffee shop that Ozpin wanted to meet us at?" Palom asked curiously. The Stellar was a small hole in the wall shop that had a few tables on the out outside of it.

"This is the place, and I do believe that it is him right over there," Buki said as she pointed to a table with someone sitting at it. When they looked to where Buki was pointing, they saw that Ozpin was sitting down and drinking some coffee.

"Wow, you found him fast," Porom said in an amazed tone.

"Well when you're becoming a huntress, you have to have a quick eye," Buki told Palom and Porom.

"Let's talk about this late and get this over with, I'm honestly feeling very tired," Sunset said as she rubbed her forehead.

"Agreed, it's been a long day for all of us," Tempest said as she did the same. Palom and Porom silently agreed while Buki just nodded and the five went over to the table Ozpin was sitting at.

"Ah, there you five are. I was beginning to wonder if you would show," Ozpin said as he put down the cup of coffee that he was drinking.

"Sorry, we kind of took a bit of time to rest. After all, we kind of did fight a Rabid Grimm," Sunset said as she took a seat.

"That is understandable, after all; I imagine it must have been pretty tough," Ozpin said calmly as the others, except Buki, sat down.

"We also did take the time to go over what information we had gathered," Tempest chimed in as she got out the USB that Shade gave her.

"Ah, well before we start talking about your mission debriefing, there are some people that I would like to introduce you four to," Ozpin said as he looked at Buki.

"Wait, why are you looking at me?" Buki asked in a slightly confused tone. Before anyone could respond, a voice came from a nearby alleyway.

"Come on Buki, I thought that you would have figured it out by now," the voice said in a friendly tone. As Sunset and Tempest stood up on reflex, Buki held a hand out to them as a motion to stop.

"Wait, they're my teammates," Buki said quickly.

"Oh right, you are a student at Beacon so it would make sense that you have a team," Sunset commented as she sat down and started to blush out of embarrassment.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Buki told Tempest and Sunset.

"Wow, I think that's the first time I've heard Buki care for someone," another voice chimed in.

"You know I can hurt you right?" Buki responded in a hostile tone.

"I hate to interrupt, but I think that we should hurry this along. After all, it is almost night time," Ozpin interrupted.

"He has a fair point, shall we reveal ourselves?" a third voice said. There was no response, but everyone at the table heard three sets of footsteps coming from the alleyway. When the three emerged from the alleyway, they saw that they were also Kamen Riders.

"So, you three are Buki's teammates?" Sunset asked as she looked at the three riders as they leaned against a nearby wall.

"Yes we are. You can all me Kamen Rider Arms, Arms for short" the center one in the red armor said as Buki joined her team.

"The name is Kamen Rider Neo Arms, but you can call me Neo Arms. Nice to meet you all," the left one in blue armor said with a slight bow.

"Nega Arms, Kamen Rider Nega Arms," the right one in grayish armor said with his arms crossed.

"Everyone, this is team HNSN" Ozpin said to the group he was debriefing before turning to the team leaning against a wall. "HNSN, if you could reveal your real selves?"

Kamen Riders Arms, Neo Arms, and Nega Arms started going for different parts of their respective belts. "Wait!" Buki said, stopping them. "Do you really want me to scare everyone here?"

"Oh yeah" Arms said. "[i]That[/i] thing." A shudder went down his body. "Neo Arms?"

Neo Arms appeared to be using a touchscreen only he could see and interact with. "We have a few minutes and an open road nearby."

Nega Arms sighed. "Let's get this over with."

All four Riders walked out into the middle of the street, Arms and Neo Arms switching out components of their Drivers.

 **"GHOST!"**

 **"GOKAIGER!"**

"What are they doing?" Tempest asked Ozpin.

"From what they've told me, they're saving us from weeks of fear and insomnia" Ozpin said as he sipped some coffee. "It's also something they do from time to time."

Arms slid the Arms Memory in his driver eight times, producing a Sunglasslasher, Gan Gan Catcher, two Gan Gan Sabers, two Gan Gan Hands, and two Deepslashers, all in a pile at his feet. He sat down and started putting weapons together, building something.

Neo Arms slid a small tab on the Gokaiger weapon key before turning it, producing five Gokai Guns, five Gokai Sabers, the Gokai Galleon Buster and the Gokai Spear, all held in a telekinetic field.

Buki pressed a lever on the left side of her belt, bringing forth a myriad of fruit-like weapons, some of which had duplicates. "Be gentle, please."

Nega Arms pulled a hidden gun barrel out of his scanner, attached it to the front of the large blade on the device, and pulled them off, giving him a big knife.

"What the, who has that many weapons?" Porom said.

"They do" Ozpin answered. "And they have so many more as well."

The first shots came from three of Buki's weapons. Specifically, three Sonic Arrows that were floating in front of her and fired an energy arrow at each of her opponents. All three hit, but did very little damage.

Neo Arms ran in first, trident in hand and firing the five handguns at Buki, a Melon Defender placing itself in front of the bullets. When he was close enough, he swung a bladed edge of the Gokai Spear at the shield, knocking it aside before sending the five Gokai Sabers in. He got a few slashes in before being slashed in the back by a Kagematsu.

Nega Arms pointed his left arm at some of the weapons and pressed a button on the scanner. After making a selection and sliding the bolt action on the scanner, he ran towards Buki, skillfully parrying three Daidaimaru at once with his knife. Once he was close enough to her, he hit the button again, sending a duplicate Gokai Spear right at her. Another Kagematsu deflected the attack, but Nega Arms caught the Gokai Spear.

While everyone was fighting, Arms was finishing up his weapon building. Using the Gan Gan Hands, Gan Gan Sabers, and Deepslashers, he had made two scythes. After making them, he joined them together into a dual scythe staff that was bigger than he was and joined the fray, Gan Gan Catcher and Sunglasslasher stowed on his back. His focus was on Buki, but he also wasn't worried about hitting Neo Arms or Nega Arms.

Of all those observing, only Ozpin wasn't dumbstruck. Even as various sounds of gunfire rang out from the nearby street, he casually watched the four fighting Kamen Riders. It quickly turned from three on one to a free for all with priority on one target: Buki.

"I guess they do this regularly?" Palom asked. "You don't seem too worried."

"They fight like this about once per month or whenever Buki needs to undo her change" Ozpin said. "There was even one time they raced around campus on their motorcycles and fought each other. The only damage was to one part of the courtyard, amazingly."

 **"GOKAIGER, FULL POWER!"**

 **"GAIM, OMEGA DRIVE!"**

Everyone's attention was focused on the fight when they heard those phrases. Neo Arms was holding the Gokai Spear in its gun form in one hand and the Gokai Galleon Buster in the other with the five Gokai Guns arrayed in between and the swords on standby behind him. Buki's weapons, being more melee oriented, charged in response as both sets or armaments glowed with power.

The two forces clashed against each other, though Buki's attack proved more effective since Neo Arms had no shields to defend himself with. After getting beaten and shot by all of the Gaim weapons that were not shields, he was knocked out of henshin himself and knocked back, landing right by the table everyone was gathered at. All his weapons also vanished.

After getting up and brushing himself off, the Rider went inside Stellar Roast and ordered a couple dozen glazed donuts.

 **"OBLITERATION!"**

Nega Arms held a Gokai Galleon Buster in one hand and the DJ Gun in the other. Once both were charged up, both were fired at Buki, knocking her across the street, her henshin cancelling out upon impact with a stone wall. The weapons she had available flew towards and surrounded her, ready to defend her and she walked across the street and sat down with the observers.

 **"ARMS, MAXIMUM DRIVE!"**

Arms' dual scythe blades let off a growing glow along their blades. Once the glow was at its brightest, he adjusted his grip down to one end of the weapon before throwing it at Nega Arms like a boomerang.

Nega Arms ducked out of the way just in time to avoid the oversized scytherang, but got hit by a powerful shot from a combined Gan Gan Catcher and Sunglasslasher rifle.

"I still stand" Nega Arms said as he stood up, producing a pair of Deepslashers of his own from his scanner just in time for the scythe boomerang to come back around and smack him in the back of his head, sending him forward and into a wide, arcing slash from Arms. Nega Arms was forced out of henshin when he hit the ground.

"Well, the fight's over" Ozpin said as Arms undid his henshin. "HNSN, please join us."

The four members of Team HNSN, now out of their armor and a little beaten up, scavenged some chairs and joined everyone. As they sat down, Sunset noticed that out of her armor Buki was someone familiar to her.

"Now that the fight is over with, how about we have the team introduce their real names?" Ozpin said in a calm tone.

"I don't have any objections to this. My name is Jack Honoh," Arms told the group.

"My name is Bryan Shadowmere," Neo Arms said as he ate a donut.

"Names' Chris Necrom, nice to meet you," Nega Arms said in a slightly irritated voice.

"My name is Jennifer Natsuki," Buki said in an oddly upbeat tone.

"Anyway, I take you didn't have us come here to makes us beat each other up," Jack asked Ozpin.

"You catch on quick Jack. The reason I called you three here is so that you can here is do that you can acknowledge what Tempest's and Sunset's teams have done," Ozpin explained to the other three.

"Ah, so we are witnesses of a sort?" Bryan asked curiously.

"That would be the correct assumption," Ozpin told the team.

"Well then, why don't we let them explain what happened at the facility?" Chris asked in a neutral tone. After taking a few minutes to introduce themselves and explain what had happened at the facility, Tempest leaving out what she saw in that hallway and surgery room, Ozpin decided to speak up.

"Well, it sounds like you two have had a rough day," Ozpin commented with a slight smile on his face.

"We know," Tempest and Sunset both said at the same time.

"Anyway, you said that the White Fang were able to pacify a Rabid Grimm. How were they able to do it exactly?" Chris asked curiously, seeming to be interested in the topic.

"That is what I'm still trying to figure out myself," Sunset said as she closed her eyes out of thought.

"Well, ever since I took down a Rabid Grimm on my own, I've actually been looking into what makes them have that aura," Jack told the group. Palom and Tempest, who were sitting close to him, both scooted their chairs over without a word being said.

"So, what did you find out?" Jennifer asked curiously.

"Well, I still don't know how exactly they make that aura of theirs, but there is something interesting that I learned. It's the fact that without that Aura, they become just like a normal Grimm," Jack explained.

"Well, that is obvious. How was that supposed to be of any help?" Chris asked in a serious tone.

"I think I understand what Jack is trying to say," Tempest quickly said.

"Really, you understood what he said? I find that hard to believe," Chris said in a slightly irritated tone.

"Hey Palom and Porom, from your time in the White Fang, could you tell me from your experience how strong Adam is or at the very least a guess?" Tempest asked ignoring Chris' comment. Chris looked extremely pissed and was going to say something until the importance of that statement clicked in his mind.

"Um, why do you want to know that?" Palom asked curiously.

"Because if he is strong enough to take on a Rabid Grimm alone or with some help, then we have out answer to our question," Jack finished for Tempest.

"Well, I would say he is very strong without a doubt, but we wouldn't know exactly how strong," Porom said nervously.

"He was able to take on a group of at least 25 Ursas on his own and emerged with little damage," Sunset said, interrupting the conversation. Everyone, except Palom and Porom, looked at Sunset with a questioning or surprised look on their face.

"How do you know that Sunset?" Jack asked curiously.

"Well, you remember how I told you all I was friends with these two? That's because I was in the White Fang," Sunset said in a low tone. Tempest was about to speak up, but Ozpin held out a hand to stop her as some civilians walked by.

"We'll talk about this more at a more private location, but for now I think as long as we have a way that the White Fang could have captured that Grimm, that is perfectly fine," Ozpin said in his usual calm and collected tone. No one said anything as Ozpin got up from his seat. "You all feel free to stay and talk, but I have to get going," Ozpin said as he started to walk away. As he was walking away, Tempest looked at everyone from HNSN.

"So, you all don't look like you're from Vale? Why don't you tell us about where you all come from?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Oh, well we all actually came from Atlas to enroll at Beacon. We didn't really like it that much over at Atlas, so we came over here," Buki explained.

"Really? What didn't you like about Atlas?" Porom asked curiously.

"Well, would you believe me if we said we were just bored of Atlas," Jack said in a more casual tone.

"To be honest, I believe that. There must be only so much to do up there," Tempest said.

"Well, it was a combination of that and the fact that Atlas' academy didn't seem like the best place for us," Jennifer chimed in.

"I've heard some stories from there, but I haven't been there myself so I'll take your word for it," Palom said as he thought about some rumors.

"Well, they are true for the most part and we kind of didn't want to deal with the school, so we all moved here," Chris said.

"Wow, you all really didn't like Atlas then if you decided to come all the way out here. It must have been expensive," Porom said in a slightly sad tone.

"Actually, Ozpin is the reason we were able to come to Vale in the first place. He saw some footage of our powers and was interested in them," Bryan explained.

"So, he gave you an offer, you accepted it, and the rest is history?" Tempest asked curiously.

"That is basically what had happened," Jack said.

"Well, it must have been a hell of a ride to get to where you four are now," Palom commented. As Palom said that, various streetlights came on as night started to come.

"Wow, it got late fast," Buki commented as she looked around.

"I'll say, it feels like only a few minutes have passed," Sunset commented.

"Anyway, we had better get going. After all, the four of us have to prepare for school to start up in about a week," Jack said as he got up from the chair.

"I guess that means that we'll see you all later then?" Tempest asked curiously.

"Of course you will, after all both you and Sunset are going to Beacon," Bryan said. After exchanging a few goodbyes, HNSN left the café and headed back to Beacon.

"So, where are we going to be staying?" Porom asked as she got up and stretched.

"You could stay with me, I have a house all to myself and there are a few spare bedrooms," Tempest told the twins.

"Really, you don't mind if the two of us, who are basically total strangers to you, stay at your house?" Palom asked in a curious tone.

"Well, you both don't look like the kind of people that could stab me in the back easily. I also can tell that Porom is very responsible, so I can trust in her to keep an eye on you," Tempest said.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Palom said as he blushed slightly. That earned a laugh from Sunset as she saw the exchange in front of her.

"I'm glad that you are helping my friends Tempest; I should also thank you and your teammates for helping us with the Grimm back at the facility," Sunset said in an appreciative tone.

"Hey, it's what friends do for each other," Tempest said as he walked up to Sunset.

"Wait, you consider me a friend?" Sunset asked out of slight shock.

"Of course, I know we only meet today, but I know you're someone who will watch my back. I'll be counting on you when we're at Beacon," Tempest said in a happy tone. Sunset was speech less about what Tempest had told her. "Well, I better be heading off and I recommend that you do the same," Tempest said as she walked past Sunset. Palom and Porom followed Tempest silently as Sunset just stood there.

" _She really does consider me a friend, doesn't she?_ " Sunset thought as she started to head back to Storm's house.


	11. Side Story 1

**Weapon Fan Meets Weapon Maker**

* * *

It was Thursday, and classes just ended. Jack Honoh figured that it was time to relax with a sketchpad and some pencils, but not in a normal place. No, he felt like getting some elevation, perhaps in a tree. No, not perhaps, but definitely in a tree. There was a tree near the spot in the courtyard that seemed to get destroyed at least a couple times per semester that looked perfect.

Upon reaching the tree, and making sure there was nothing to his left, Jack put on the Arms Driver and pulled out the Arms Memory, hitting the button on it as always.

 **"ARMS."**

"Henshin." Upon inserting the Memory, the sounds of blades sharpening and guns priming played on a loop. The loop didn't last long as he pulled the Memory to his right and allowed it to slide back to its centered position.

 **"ARMS."**

A blast of energy or something like it came out of the barrel, hit nothing but air for 15 feet, then turned back and formed on Jack, making him Kamen Rider Arms, once again. He set his supplies on the ground and pulled out a weapon magazine, which he put in the Driver with well practiced motions.

 **"GOGO V!"**

Once the magazine was in, he slid the Arms memory two more times.

 **"FIVE LASER. CLAW ANCHOR."**

The weapons appeared in Arms' hands, and he contemplated them for a bit. "This set always messes with me" he idly commented to nobody as he moved the Laser Grip to the Claw Anchor and set the Laser's barrel on top of the grappling claw. After recollecting his supplies, he fired up into the tree, catching a branch that was both high up and around the middle of the tree. He held on as the line took him up, unaware of the silver eyes that were watching him.

After about a minute of going up and weaving through branches, he reached the one he had anchored to first. After getting some solid footing, he detached the hook and fired up to a higher branch and repeated the process. When he got up to the branch, he found that, while sturdy, it was also rather thin. Fortunately, there were some thicker ones a few feet below it, four of which looked oddly smooth.

 _"Am I not the only one to have come up here?"_ he wondered before deciding it didn't matter and sat down on one of the smoother branches. Years of students coming up and sitting on the branches, along with a few sanding tools, had made some comfortable spots to sit in. As he prepared his drawing materials, he idly thought, _"This would make a great sniping nest."_ What he didn't see were the letters SNPR and NEST carved in the opposite side of the trunk.

The sketchbook he had was one of many dedicated to a single weapon set. This one was for the Zyuranger set. On the first page were all the weapons from the set, in full color. After that was the natural combination of five of the unique weapons, a five barreled crossbow gun.

Beyond that were numerous combinations of weapons he had come up with, such as a pair of tonfa made from the Saber Daggers, Trice-Lance, and two Ranger Sticks. Some of the combinations had been used before, but more were just conceptual combinations that hadn't been used. The Gun City Police Department was a great place for him to have worked in.

Arms was in the middle of designing a set of weapon armor when a gunshot rang out. Looking in the direction he heard it from, all he saw was the tree's foliage. Clearly, he would have to stand up in order to see what was going on, but he was comfortable and his supplies were on his lap, keeping him from getting up.

 _"I wish I had a camera drone"_ he thought. _"I think I've got one designed in the new copy of the third Fourze sketchbook. Come to think of it, why didn't I just use the Winch Module?"_

A few more shots rang out, each one getting louder. Either the rounds were being fired in ascending order of volume or someone was using recoil to fly up, which sounded ridiculous. Flying via recoil was impractical at best and a hopeless endeavor at worst, as far as he knew. It was much easier to put a shield or something like one down and ride an explosion.

A few seconds after the fourth gunshot, which came from somewhere behind him, the tree shook a bit, like someone landed on it.

"Um, hi?" a voice that Arms recognized as belonging to Ruby Rose timidly said.

"Hello, Ruby" Arms casually replied without diverting attention from his sketch. "What brings you up here?"

"Oh, I saw you come up here, and I thought I'd join you. The Sniper Nest has a great view, doesn't it?"

"I've had paper view the whole time I've been up here." Jack smirked under the Arms visage.

"What? How did you get a tv up here? How can you even afford pay per view? Or a TV?"

Arms flipped through some of his previous Zyuranger work, stopping at a giant axe he made once and holding it over his shoulder for Ruby. "Take a very close look at this to find out. And I mean really close."

Ruby took the sketchbook and admired the sketch before looking really closely at it. Arms took the opportunity to put some of his pencils away and stand up. "See what I mean yet?"

"No, but I love this axe. I can see a bow, a sword, daggers, a staff, a different dagger, and a smaller axe in it."

"So you like the paper view? Or am I drawing this out too much?"

Ruby was quiet for a moment before facebooking, the pun sinking in. "Are you sure you're Jack and not Yang under that armor?" She handed the sketchbook back to Arms.

"Last I checked, yes."

"That sounded like one of my sister's puns. But now I have one that she hasn't used! I think."

"That's great. So, why did you decide to join me up here?"

Ruby went back to her more timid voice. "Well, you have access to, like, every kind of weapon in the history of ever, even if they look kind of odd, and you can make even more things with them. You even made a grappling hook earlier out of a gun and claw weapon, and it was just so cool! I've also seen you put weapons on your armor in interesting ways, like putting parts of a giant sword on you as extra armor, and I love that ability of yours, and I just want to see everything you can do. So, can I see all your weapons?"

Arms took a second to process what he heard into its individual words, since Ruby's speed and pitch went up as she went on about the weapons. "Tomorrow after classes end."

"Oh come on! Not even one set?" Ruby whined.

"Nope. Today, I draw. Also, the grapple gun is not an original build. I had to put the grip on it for it to even work. Putting the barrel on top was simply because it was a convenient spot.

"Anyways, could you let me draw?"

"Oh, alright. But we are meeting up after classes end tomorrow, right?"

"Sure."

"Yes!" Ruby jumped out of the tree, using Crescent Rose to adjust her fall direction towards the dorms.

 _"I think I'll draw a sniper rifle and scythe today."_ And with the thought done, he flipped to a blank page and started sketching out the ideas.

* * *

Ruby made her way to her team's dorm with more pep in her step than she knew what to do with. Maybe she could give some to Weiss or Blake. Or maybe Jaune.

Ruby rounded the last corner to her dorm's hallway and lost her pep when she hit something solid and metal, causing her to fall backwards. "Hello, neighbor" a familiar voice said.

"Jennifer?" Ruby said as she got back up, seeing it was indeed her. "What's with the giant bullseye target?"

"Take it to your room, set it at the foot of Blake's bed facing the window, and have the window open. It will make sense within the hour."

"But it's only a couple minutes until Four."

"It will make sense within the next hour." Jennifer put the target in Ruby's hands, a slightly comical sight since the target was almost as big as she was. She turned around and walked back to her dorm, opening Team RWBY's door along the way.

Ruby could barely stand up with the target in her hands. A moment after Jennifer went into her dorm, Yang popped her head out of her dorm to see who had opened their door. She didn't see anyone, but she did see Ruby with the target.

"Ruby!" Yang said. "You know we're not supposed to bring those targets in here."

"Help me, sis!" Ruby practically squeaked out. "This is getting heavy."

Yang noticed Ruby was shaking like a leaf and rushed out, relieving her of the target with ease. "You know what, now that I think about it, how did you get this target up here? There's no way you could have carried this up the stairs yourself."

Ruby leaned against the wall. "Jennifer gave it to me a minute ago."

"Then how would she have gotten it up here?" Yang wondered.

"I don't know. She told me to set it up in our dorm, but didn't say why."

"Huh. Now I want to know why too. Let's get this set up."

Yang and Ruby went in the dorm, Yang having no problem carrying the target. With Ruby's guidance, she set the target up facing the window, which Ruby opened up. Blake and Weiss asked what was going on, and Ruby explained what happened. Then they all went to do their homework.

* * *

After finishing the sketches to his satisfaction, which took about 45 minutes, Arms decided to build one of the weapons. Considering where he was, the sniper rifle seemed appropriate. As soon as he pulled the Gogo V magazine out of the Arms Driver, the Claw Anchor and Five Laser disappeared. He put it away and pulled out another magazine, which was immediately put in the Driver.

 **"ZYURANGER!"**

A pull on the Arms Memory came a second later.

 **"MOTHBREAKER!"**

Arms caught the axe and held it by the gun grip built into the head, then pulled again.

 **"TRICE-LANCE!"**

Once again, the weapon was caught. Arms pulled the bladed ends off the staff and put one end of it in the Mothbreaker's barrel, giving him the extra barrel length he needed for a sniper rifle. The blades were themselves split in half, then all four halves were joined together and put on the end on the barrel in a flattened X, giving the gun yet another extension.

 **"RYUUGEKIKEN!"**

The red hilted sword was set on top of the forming rifle. Arms pulled the handle off and split it into two long halves, which he attached to the underside of the barrel as a bipod.

 **"PTERA ARROW!"**

Arms removed the string from the bow and attached it to the side of the gun. It made a good, if rather thin carrying strap, which he hadn't included in the original sketch. The rest of the bow got folded up and attached as the rifle's stock.

 **"SABER DAGGER!"**

Arms rubbed the bottom of each dagger's handle with his thumb until a lens was revealed. A quick experiment confirmed that his dual section scope worked. Where one looked, the other would show what it saw. The one that looked out was set between the Trice-Lance blades, and the eyepiece was set on the Ryuugekiken.

Arms admired the rifle he had made. By no means did it look like a normal sniper rifle, but then again, when did any of his custom built weapons look normal?

Just as he finished admiring the rifle, Arms' scroll rang with a text alert. He saw it was from Jennifer. It read "You have a target in RWBY's dorm. Hit it". With a shrug, Arms put the scroll away and sought out his target. He didn't have to look for long, since RWBY's dorm curtains and window were open, allowing him to see both the shiny target and the book boosted bunk bed Blake and Yang built. Badly. They could at least have used outdated textbooks instead of what looked like fantasy titles.

Focusing back in, he saw the target. As he'd done before back in Gun City, he lined up his crosshairs, didn't bother accounting for sway, wind, or drop (since those never affected his shots for whatever reason), and fired a single shot.

* * *

Team RWBY was gathered around a strategy assignment, sitting on the floor behind the target, which they had quickly gotten used to being there. The assignment played out more like a game, and the teacher for that class was an avid tabletop game player. He had numerous awards from tournaments for such games on the classroom wall.

With no forewarning, the metal target shattered and a scorch mark appeared in the middle of their map. Team RWBY quickly scattered to their dorm's corners by their lower bunks, out of sight from the window. Ruby and Weiss kept still and quiet by their beds while Yang found herself stroking Blake's hair to keep both herself and her teammate calm.

Jennifer casually strode into their dorm and looked at the metal fragments and the map RWBY was using, seemingly unaware of the danger they perceived her to be in. She appeared to be reading something in the destruction, then moved some triangular fragments onto the map, drawing on some of them with a permanent marker as well. Once she was done, she left a folded piece of paper on the scorched map. When she was apparently satisfied, she closed the window and curtains, and simply left.

Ruby picked up the paper and read it. "That is what Jack can do with a bunch of melee weapons and a bow. Also, I did your assignment for you. You're welcome."


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: A Start to a School Year**

Two weeks had passed since their mission together and Tempest was currently helping her team get ready to go to Beacon. "Wow, these past two weeks have sure gone by fast," Tempest said to Wind as they got ready to head to Beacon.

"I know, it really feels like it's only been a few days," Tempest responded as he got his Scroll and put it away.

"Oh, I should mention that Ozpin sent me a message telling us about our team name," Tempest commented as she put her elbow blades into two sheaths on her back.

"Really? What did he decide to call us?" Wind asked as he grabbed his sword and put it on his back.

"Well, I should say that we don't have a team name that follows the normal thing we would expect," Tempest told Wind.

"So, we don't follow that so called color rule do we?" Wind asked curiously.

"I don't remember that very well, but if I'm correct, that is the rule that says that a team name should be based off a color or something similar," Tempest commented.

"That is correct; although even if there is a team name that goes against that rule, there are always those people who will try to find a way to make it tied to a color," Wind said.

"I've seen some things like that online, but back to the topic at hand. Do you want to hear our team name?" Tempest questioned.

"Sure, I'm curious as to what it is," Wind said.

"Well, our team name is TEPST," Tempest told Wind.

"Ok, now what about our team name?" Wind responded. Tempest was about to respond until she realized the joke and started to laugh.

"Ok, that is actually a pretty good one," Tempest said through her laughter.

"Hey, can't blame a guy for trying to be funny," Wind responded with a big smile on his face.

"You know, I think that's the first time I heard some make a joke about my name," Tempest told Wind.

"Well, I think I should tell you ahead of time that I make a lot of jokes, so be prepared for some bad ones," Wind said with a big smile.

"I'll keep that in mind," Tempest said as she finished laughing.

"You know, I noticed that you seem happier today," Wind commented.

"Well, why wouldn't I be? Today is the day that we are going to Beacon," Tempest said in an upbeat tone.

"I completely understand, but what are you going to do about the house?" Wind asked.

"What do you mean?" Tempest responded.

"Well, since Beacon is close enough to walk to, are you going to stay here at the house or are you going to stay at the dorms of Beacon?" Wind explained.

"I'm going to be staying at Beacon, as much as I would like to stay here, I don't feel like riding my motorcycle to Beacon every day," Tempest told Wind.

"Well, what are going to do with the house?" Wind asked.

"I'm going to be renting it out to someone, though they kind of made the request last minute," Tempest told Wind.

"Huh, I guess that explains why you asked me to come over and help you with various things," Wind said as he looked around the now clean living room.

"Again, I'm sorry about the last minute call, but I kind of needed your help," Tempest apologized in a sincere tone.

"I don't mind it to mind, after all, I got to spend some time with you," Wind said. Tempest simply blushed at that comment and stayed silent in response. "Anyway, I better head back home," Wind said as he walked to the door. As he went up to the door, the doorbell rang.

"That must be the one who asked to rent the house," Tempest said as she walked up behind Wind.

"Do you know their name?" Wind asked curiously.

"I do, but I want it to be a surprise to you with who it is," Tempest told Wind with a smile. Wind said nothing as he moved out of the way.

"Well then, since it's your guest, why don't you open the door?" Wind told Tempest. Tempest simply stepped forward and opened the door to see a very familiar standing there.

"Hello there Tempest, it's good to see you again," the person said as he extended his hand.

"It's a pleasure to see you again General Ironwood," Tempest said as she shook his hand.

"Wait, you're General Ironwood from the Atlas military?" Wind asked out of shock.

"That would be me; you must be one of Tempest's teammates that she was telling me about," Ironwood said in a respectable tone.

"Yes sir, my name is Typhoon," Wind said nervously.

"Nice to meet you Typhoon," Ironwood said.

"General Ironwood is staying in Vale for the semester in order to oversee various things and I offered to let him stay at my house," Tempest explained to Wind.

"That is correct, although I will say that I'm sorry about the last-minute notice," Ironwood told Tempest.

"Its fine, but I'm curious as to why it was last minute," Tempest inquired.

"Well, let's just say some things happened and I kind of had to call at the last minute," Ironwood explained.

"I imagine that the things that happened are confidential?" Tempest and Wind asked at the same time. After they said that, the two looked at each other and both blushed a little.

"Exactly," Ironwood said, a small smile forming on his face.

"Out of curiosity, do you need help getting settled in?" Tempest asked, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

"No, I can handle it myself, you two need to get ready for Beacon today right," Ironwood said.

"Oh right, I actually need to take off now," Wind said.

"Well then, I won't keep either of you waiting, you both better get going to do whatever you two need to do," Ironwood told the two as he walked into the house.

"Ok, see you later Ironwood," Tempest said as she and Wind left the house, Tempest closing the door behind them. When they got outside, Tempest noticed that Wind was giving her a strange look. "I'll explain how I know him later," Tempest told Wind.

"Good, because I'm confused on how you know him," Wind commented as they walked away from the house.

"So, are you going back to Phaze's house?" Tempest asked.

"Yep, I'll see you at Beacon Tempest," Wind said as he went in ahead of Tempest. Tempest waved goodbye to her friend and then just stood there. After a few seconds, her motorcycle came up next to her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Tempest," a robotic voice said from the bike.

"It's no problem Zephyr, I was just saying goodbye to Wind," Tempest told her bike.

"Ah, how is it going with him?" Zephyr asked.

"Well, he's nice and I think he's kind of handsome," Tempest said, blushing as she got on Zephyr.

"Good for you, you actually found someone that likes you," Zephyr said in a happy tone.

"Quiet," Tempest said out of embarrassment as she put on the helmet.

"So, to Beacon?" Zephyr asked her rider.

"You got it," Tempest said in an energetic tone. With that line, the two took off toward Beacon.

* * *

After about 10 minutes of riding, Tempest was starting to approach Beacon. When she looked to her left, she saw Sunset walking on the side walk. "Hey Zephyr, mind if I stop next to Sunset?" Tempest asked.

"Go ahead, I'll go silent while you talk to her," Zephyr responded. When Zephyr said that, Tempest simply rode up next to Sunset and stopped just behind her.

"Hey Sunset, you on the way to Beacon?" Tempest asked as she took off her helmet.

"I am, you riding to Beacon?" Sunset responded.

"Well, I actually was until I saw you. Do you mind if I ride along side you?" Tempest said.

"I don't mind, I would actually prefer the company," Sunset told Tempest. Tempest simply nodded as she slowly rode alongside Sunset.

"So, how has your day been so far?" Tempest asked over the low sound of the engine.

"It's been good, anything happen to you recently?" Sunset responded.

"Well, I've rented out my house to someone. I imagine that Storm did the same?" Tempest told Twilight.

"Palom and Porom told me they actually the ones who rented Storm's house," sunset commented, remembering her earlier conversation.

"Really, I'm happy for them," Tempest said in a happy tone. The two then had a moment of awkward silence as they thought of things to talk about. "Hey Sunset, why did you know so much about him?" Tempest asked, breaking the silence.

"About who?" Sunset responded.

"About Adam Taurus," Tempest said in a serious tone. Sunset eyes then widened at that response then she immediately calmed down.

"Well, of course you know, I told you yesterday," Sunset said

"I figured know that, but I guess I shouldn't argue with your Sunset," Tempest said as she stopped her bike. Sunset then immediately breathed a sigh of relief before Tempest spoke again. "Or perhaps I should call you General Flare of the High Council," Tempest said in a calm tone. Sunset then quickly grabbed one of the blades from her waist, which Tempest assumed was another form of her weapon, and pointed it at Tempest.

"How did you know that?" Sunset said in a very aggressive tone.

"Now now; I was just saying that because I knew you were in the High Counsel," Tempest said calmly. Sunset was about to respond when she remembered where they were and put her weapon back on her waist.

"We'll talk about this later," Sunset said in a very annoyed tone before walking off towards Beacon. Tempest stayed silent as she followed Sunset, a small smile forming on Tempest's face. After a few minutes of walking/riding, the two were at the entrance of Beacon. As they approached, they saw Ozpin standing by the main entrance.

"Ah, there you two are," Ozpin said as they approached.

"You were waiting for us?" Sunset said in a calmer tone.

"I was, because I wanted to tell you both something," Ozpin told the two.

"What did you want to tell us?" Tempest asked as she got off her bike and turned it off.

"Well, a few things in fact. First off, I wanted to tell you Tempest that we actually have a place where you can keep your bike here on the grounds and I'll be happy to take it over there," Ozpin told Tempest.

"Really? Thank you headmaster, I would appreciate it if you did." Tempest said.

"It's not a problem; I just wanted to let you know. The second thing I wanted to let you both know is that we had a bit of an issue involving each of your team's respective rooms," Ozpin said.

"Let me guess, there wasn't enough rooms available?" Sunset guessed.

"Exactly, so, I've decided to give you both a shared room that we have for situations like this. I take you both are ok with this?" Ozpin explained. Tempest and Sunset looked at each other before silently coming to an agreement.

"We don't have any problems with that at all Mr. Ozpin," Sunset said.

"Ok, then here a copy of the key to your room for each of you," Ozpin said as he gave them both a key.

"Ok, so I imagine that you have one last thing to tell us about?" Tempest asked as she put her key away.

"Of course, and that would be to introduce you to your tour guide," Ozpin said.

"Tour guide?" Sunset and Tempest responded at the same time.

"Yes, I figured that since both of you just now attending Beacon, I would give you and your teams a tour of the place myself. Unfortunately, something came up and I had to get you a student who was here last semester to show you around, but they are someone that I honestly trust" Ozpin explained. As Sunset and Tempest were wondering who could be their guide, they saw a familiar girl running towards then entrance.

"Sorry, I'm late; I had a bit of trouble with my team," Ruby told Ozpin, panting from the running she did.

"Its fine Miss Rose, I completely understand. Anyway, I believe you know why I called you here?" Ozpin said.

"Yes, you wanted me to walk the leaders of two new teams around the school," Ruby responded.

"I'm glad that you remembered that. Well, I would like you to meet the leaders, whom I believe that you have meet before," Ozpin said, a slight smile forming on his face. Ruby took a look at the two girls and immediately smiled.

"Hey, you were the ones I saw last week right?" Ruby asked with a smile on her face.

"That is right; though I don't think that we introduced ourselves to you that day," Tempest said in a cheerful tone.

"I don't think either of you did introduce yourselves, but I guess we can use today to do that," Ruby said in a similar tone to Tempest's.

"Well then, now that I've seen that Ruby got here, I must be off," Ozpin said as he got Tempest bike and walked off. Ruby, Sunset and Tempest all waved goodbye to Ozpin as he walked off.

"You know, Ozpin seems like a dependable headmaster," Sunset commented.

"I can agree with that, although no one can quite tell what is going on in that mind of his. It's like he has his own plan and isn't telling it to anyone," Ruby responded.

"Anyway, I believe I'll start with the introductions. You can call me Tempest," Tempest told Ruby.

"Sunset Shimmer, but you can call me Sunset," Sunset said, a small smile forming on her face.

"Nice to meet you both," Ruby said.

"So, you want to take us on that tour Ozpin was telling us about?" Tempest questioned.

"Of course," Ruby said with a smile before turning around and walking towards Beacon. Sunset and Tempest simply followed Ruby without another word said between the two of them.

* * *

After about an hour of walking around Beacon; Ruby, Sunset, and Tempest arrived at the fountain plaza at the back of the school. "So, this is the last place you wanted to show us?" Tempest asked as she looked around.

"Yep, this is actually where a lot of students come to relax when the school day is over or whenever they have free time," Ruby explained. As Sunset and Tempest looked around, the noticed a group of four students talking amongst each other.

"Hey Ruby, do you know those students?" Sunset asked, motioning in the direction of the students. As Ruby looked at the group, a big smile appeared on her face.

"Of course I do, they're actually good friends of mine. Come on, I want you to meet them," Ruby said as she walked ahead of them. Tempest walked forward to join Ruby, but was stopped by Sunset.

"We need to talk," Sunset told Tempest in a serious tone.

"Still a bit mad about that comment from earlier? Well don't worry, we will a chance to talk. But before we talk, I want you to think about this. How would I know about the High Council?" Tempest responded before going ahead to join Ruby. Sunset just stood there for a moment before taking note of the last sentence that Tempest said and went off to join Ruby and Tempest.

"Hey Ruby, you showing two new students around?" one of the students asked.

"Yep, these are Sunset and Tempest. Sunset and Tempest, I would like you to meet team JNPR," Ruby responded, Sunset and Tempest waving hello at the students.

"Well, nice to meet you both, my name is Pyrrha Nikos," Pyrrha said in a kind tone.

"Jaune Arc, it's nice to meet you all," Jaune said nervously.

"My name is Lie Ren, it is a pleasure," Ren said in his calm tone.

"Hey, where did Nora go?" Ruby asked noticing the energetic girl was missing.

"Did somebody call for me?" Nora responded from between Sunset and Tempest. The two girls just looked at each other silently before stepping away from Nora.

"Is she always like this?" Sunset asked Ren curiously.

"You learn to deal with it," Ren said in a neutral tone. Sunset then heard a noise and looked over to see Nora looking at Tempest.

"Hey, it may seem rude, but do you mind if I ask a private question?" Nora asked in an energetic tone.

"Um, I don't mind, but if it's private can we go a bit away?" Tempest responded nervously.

"Sure," Nora said before grabbing Tempest's arm and dragging her a bit away from the others.

"So, what did you want to ask me about?" Tempest asked as she rubbed her arm.

"Well, I wanted to ask something about your family," Nora told Tempest. Tempest then immediately froze after she heard what Nora said.

" _Does she know_?" Tempest thought fearfully. After staying silent for a few seconds, Tempest managed to get out an answer. "Go ahead," Tempest said in a calm voice.

"Ok, now this may seem a bit private, but I'm going to ask it anyway," Nora said in a serious tone. Tempest just stayed silent and let Nora ask the question. "Is one of your parents dead?" Nora asked in a slightly nervous tone. Tempest then stayed silent for a moment before responded.

"My mom is dead, why do you ask?" Tempest said in a shaky voice.

"Because I wanted to ask you a favor," Nora responded in the same tone she was using earlier.

"What is it?" Tempest asked instinctively, remembering a situation similar to this.

"One of Ruby's teammates is going to be receiving some bad news about her family soon and I want you to look after her," Nora said, a frown appearing on her face. Tempest was about to ask who when she remembered a very important fact.

"I'll do it," Tempest said softly, holding back some tears. Tempest then forgot about the sadness and was then hugged tightly by Nora.

"Thank you so much," Nora said as she continued hugging Tempest.

"Nora… can't breathe…" Tempest said as she felt the air being squeezed out of her. Nora then let her go with a slight blush of embarrassment forming on her face. "Wow, are stronger than you look," Tempest said as she got air back into her lungs.

"Thanks for the compliment," Nora said with a smile on her face.

"Should we go back to the others?" Tempest asked.

"Sure," Nora said before grabbing Tempest's arm and dragging her once again. In a few seconds, the two arrived back with the others. "We're back," Nora said in a very energetic tone.

"Hey, we we're just talking to Sunset for a bit. What did you two talk about?" Ren responded.

"Well, to be completely honest, I would rather keep that private," Tempest said as she rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. Everyone else just nodded in understanding to what Tempest said.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, but Tempest and I have to go see if our respective teammates are here," Sunset said.

"Oh, that's right. We kind of did completely forget about them," Tempest said, remembering that they didn't wait for their teammates.

"I'll come with, I need to see how my team is doing," Ruby commented.

"Ok then, I guess we'll see you later," Jaune said. With that, Ruby, Sunset, and Tempest said good-bye to team JNPR and headed back into the school.

"You know, I'm curious who your teammates are Ruby," Sunset commented.

"Do you want to go meet them?" Ruby asked in a happy tone.

"Sure, I'm curious as to who they are as well," Tempest commented while Sunset nodded in agreement.

"Awesome, just follow me," Ruby said before heading into the school quickly. Sunset and Tempest followed soon after while Tempest had a thought in her head.

"If the teammate that Nora was talking about is who I think it is, then I promise that I'll take care of them," Tempest thought.

* * *

After following Ruby for a few minutes, the three of them arrived at the dorms. "So, this is where your team is staying?" Sunset asked.

"Yep, if you two can wait out here, then I can see who is here at the moment," Ruby said as she grabbed the handle.

"I don't mind waiting, what about you Sunset?" Tempest responded.

"I'm in a similar mindset," Sunset said.

"Great, I'll be right back," Ruby said before opening the door, heading inside the room, and closing the door behind her.

"So, what type of people do you think will be on Ruby's team?" Sunset asked Tempest.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that I know what their team is called," Tempest told Sunset.

"I think I might know as well, but I would suggest that we let Ruby tell us," Sunset responded. After she said that, Tempest immediately remembered something and moved slightly away from Sunset. "Did I do something wrong?" Sunset asked curiously.

"No, but I need to write a note in private," Tempest said as she got out a piece of paper and a pencil. Sunset just nodded as Tempest wrote down what she needed to. As Tempest was writing, Sunset notice a group of three people walking down the hallway away from them.

" _Must be more new students,_ " Sunset thought. As they turned the corner, she caught a glimpse of one of their faces and her breath caught in her thought. " _What is she doing here?_ " Sunset thought as the three students disappeared around the corner.

"Ok, I'm done writing the note," Tempest said, breaking Sunset out of her trance. Sunset just nodded as the door opened.

"So, only one of my teammates is here, but I still want to introduce you," Ruby said in a slightly disappointed tone. Sunset and Tempest then walked to the open door and entered the room. When they entered the room, they saw a teenage girl in a white dress and knee high boots sitting on one of the beds.

"Are there the two you wanted to introduce to me?" the girl asked.

"Yep, I'm sorry about bothering you, but I only did it because they asked," Ruby said in an apologetic tone.

"It's fine, not like I was doing anything anyway," the girl said before getting up off the bed. When Tempest saw the girl's face, she instantly remembered a picture that her father had sent her.

" _So, this is how she looks like now,_ " Tempest thought to herself.

"Well then, my name is Weiss Schnee, a pleasure to meet you both," Weiss said politely, bowing slightly.

"A pleasure to meet you Weiss, my name is Sunset Shimmer and my friend here is Tempest," Sunset introduced, noticing that Tempest was a little out of it.

"I see your friend is a bit of a thinker," Weiss commented. Sunset just responded by nudging Tempest and that seemed to break her out of her trance

"Sorry about that, but I just wanted to ask something. You're the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company right?" Tempest asked curiously.

"That is correct, I see that you've heard of me," Weiss said, a small smile forming on her face. As Weiss said that, Sunset simply looked at Ruby and sly motioned towards the door, which Ruby understood.

"Of course I have, I honestly like what your company does," Tempest said in a happy tone.

"Really? Well do you mind if we talk by ourselves in that case?" Weiss asked Tempest.

"I don't mind at all," Tempest said before walking over to Weiss.

"Me and Ruby will be outside if you need us," Sunset said, a bit annoyed at Tempest being a very quick talker.

"Ok," Tempest simply said. Sunset and Ruby then left the room, leaving Tempest and Weiss alone.

"So, I guess I should ask this first; do you honestly like my company?" Weiss asked.

"Why do you ask that?" Tempest responded.

"Well, I just feel like you wanted to talk with me alone and you just said that so we could have the room to ourselves," Weiss said. Tempest just smiled at that comment.

"You're really quick to catch on you know. You are, in a sense, right and wrong in your assumption," Tempest told Weiss as she took a seat in a nearby chair.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Weiss questioned.

"Well, I did want to speak to you privately, so I figured saying something that might catch your interest would do the trick. However, I honestly do look up to the Schnee Dust Company like I said earlier," Tempest explained. Weiss stayed silent as she took in all of that information.

"So, what do you like my company?" Weiss asked. Tempest stayed silent as she thought about what to say.

"I like that they provide Remnant with the Dust it needs to survive. I also like the fact that the owner's daughter chose to come to Beacon and train to be a Huntress rather than stay up at Atlas," Tempest said, Weiss blushing a little at that last part.

"Well, what do you not like about it?" Weiss asked.

"Is it ok if I can be completely honest, even if you might not like what I say?" Tempest responded. Weiss thought about that and just shrugged. "Ok, if I have to say something I don't like, it would be your father," Tempest said.

"You know what; I'm not even offended by that. We share the same opinion of him," Weiss told Tempest.

"You really don't like your father?" Tempest asked out of semi-shock.

"Well, I love him like any daughter would, but I absolutely despise what he has done for the company," Weiss told.

"Hey, if I could ask, what is your family like?" Tempest asked nervously.

"I don't mind you asking and I don't mind telling you about my family if you tell me a little about you," Weiss responded.

"I can do that, but I won't say anything personal if that's alright with you," Tempest said.

"That's fine," Weiss said.

"Ok, well than I guess I should start off that I don't remember much of my past. From what my parents told me, there was a lab accident of sorts when I was about five. I don't remember much before then, but what I do remember is that I was part of a family with two other sisters. However, something happened to me after the incident and I had to be hidden away from my family, though I have kept in touch with my father." After Tempest finished and Weiss was talking all of that information in, Weiss realized something.

"Something happened to your mother?" Weiss asked in a carful voice. Tempest just looked down at the floor in response. "I understand, I won't push the topic further," Weiss said.

"Thank you," Tempest said, her voice holding a tone of sorrow.

"Well, do you want to hear about my family right now or do you want to wait after a while?" Weiss asked. Tempest thought about that for a moment before making a decision.

"I think that would be a good idea," Tempest said as she got up.

"So, do you want to meet again in a few days?" Weiss asked.

"Sure, I can do that," Tempest said, her cheery tone coming back to her.

"Where do you think a good place to meet at?" Weiss asked.

"Well, how about we go somewhere private? I have something that I want to show you and it's not something I want to make everyone know," Tempest responded. Weiss thought about that for a moment and remembered a perfect place.

"That's fine with me," Weiss said.

"Ok, so I guess I should be going now," Tempest said as she got up and walked over to the door. Tempest was about to open the door when she heard Weiss walk up behind her. "Yes?" Tempest asked.

"Here, I want you to take this," Weiss said, holding out a piece of paper. Tempest took the paper and examined it.

"What's this?" Tempest asked.

"It's my Scroll information, I figure that you would need it," Weiss said, a small blush forming on her face.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Tempest told Weiss before opening the door. When she walked outside the room, she saw Ruby standing just next to the door and Sunset leaning against the wall opposite the room.

"You two are finished?" Sunset asked.

"Yep, we just finished up," Tempest said as she walked next to Sunset. Sunset looked at Tempest quickly and then back at Ruby and Weiss.

"So, I guess we'll see you both later?" Sunset asked awkwardly.

"We definitely will, but if you ever want to meet up, let me know," Ruby said.

"How would we do that?" Tempest asked.

"Well, me or Weiss could give you our Scroll information," Ruby commented, Weiss blushing a little at that comment.

"Is something wrong Weiss?" Sunset asked, noticing her blush. Weiss just stayed silent and looked at the ground.

"Well, I might have already given Tempest my information," Weiss replied quietly. Tempest was then confused about why Weiss was embarrassed before realizing it herself and blushing a lot.

"Oh, so did you talk about interesting stuff?" Ruby asked.

"What do you mean by that?!" Tempest and Weiss responded in unison. Sunset just smiled at that while Tempest and Weiss just blush just grew more.

"I'm just asking what you talked about," Ruby said innocently.

" _She is such an innocent mind,_ " Sunset thought, looking at Ruby.

"Well, Sunset and I had better get going. We have to find our teams after all," Tempest said quickly, obviously not wanting to make the conversation last longer.

"Ok, see you both later," Ruby said in an upbeat tone before she and Weiss headed back into the room.

"They seem nice," Sunset commented as she and Tempest walked down the hallway to their rooms.

"I can tell," Tempest said quietly.

"Just so you know, I won't judge if you tell me you're a lesbian," Sunset whispered. Tempest just blushed at that comment as they walked down the hall in silence. After a while, they saw their teammates in front of a set of two doors.

"There you two are, I was wondering if you two were even here," Storm said.

"When did you all get here?" Tempest asked happily, the blush on her face a lot less noticeable.

"We all actually got to Beacon around the same time and we were given a tour around the school by two girls," Wind began to explain.

"They were very nice and happy to lead some new students around," Phaze continued.

"Eventually, they showed us to the dorms and even showed us to this door, though I'm not sure why," Nova finished

"Well, I guess before we continue on, I should comment that all of us are going to share a room," Sunset told the group. The all just stayed silent as the thought about to respond to that until the click of a lock broke that silence.

"The key worked," Tempest said as she opened the double doors. When the doors opened, they revealed a very big room that was the size of about three regular door rooms and had a second floor. On the right wall of the ground floor were four beds with a few storage chests next to each of them. There was also a gaming area in the far right corner, a dining area with kitchen in the left corner, a living area with a TV and a few couches along the left wall, a big window along the back wall, and a spiral staircase in the center of the room. Everyone went into the room and was amazed by the architecture.

"Hey Tempest, are you sure this is the right room?" Sunset asked as she looked around the room.

"I'm sure it is because I looked at the room name on the door and it's the same one we have on our keys," Tempest told Sunset. Sunset looked at the door and saw that it read 'Special Room 01', which was the same as on her copy of the room key.

"Well, I can see that Ozpin has us spoiled," Sunset said.

"I noticed. So, what do you think of this place?" Tempest asked.

"In all honesty, I think it's perfect for us," Sunset told Tempest, a big smile on her face. Tempest was about to say something else when Shade came up to them.

"So, I just checked out the second floor and it has four normal beds along with a futon," Shade told the two. Sunset thought about that and then looked at Tempest.

"So, I imagine your team will be upstairs and my team will be downstairs?" Sunset questioned.

"For right now, let's not worry about that. I just want to get settled in and rest for right now," Tempest told Sunset. Sunset was about to say something in response, but suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion.

"You know what, I think that would be good," Sunset said. Tempest smiled and patted her on the back.

"Later on, we talk about that thing we talked about earlier before we got here," Tempest told Sunset. Sunset just looked at Tempest as she realized what she was referring to. "For now, let's got settled in," Tempest told Sunset before walking away with Shade. Sunset just stood there as she went to a bed and sat on it.

" _Something tells me that this is going to be a very interesting year,_ " Sunset thought as she decided to get settled in.


	13. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: A Chat with Weiss**

It has been a few days since the new semester at Beacon had started and TEPST was getting rather used to the school. Tempest was just finishing getting dressed as she was in her Pegasus form. "I do like how uniform fits me, even when in my Faunus form." Tempest said to herself as she flapped her wings quietly. After she did that, she reverted back to her human form. "I do have to wonder though, how did Ozpin know to modify my uniforms?" Tempest thought to herself.

It was at that moment that Tempest heard a knock at the door. She immediately started to head down the stairs to let Sunset and Nova, who here still in the room, get ready. "I'll get it." Tempest said as she came down the stairs.

"I thought you left to eat breakfast with your team already Tempest." Sunset said when she saw her.

"I was supposed to go, but I kind of overslept." Tempest said as she opened the door. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Ozpin on the other side. "Headmaster Ozpin, what are you doing here?" Tempest asked out of surprise as she let Ozpin into the room.

"Hello, there Tempest. I just stopped by to see if I could talk to you about something." Ozpin said as he walked into the room.

"Is it something that you would rather talk to me about alone?" Tempest questioned as she looked at Sunset and Nova. Sunset and Nova just nodded as they got their stuff and got ready to leave.

"Actually, do you mind if I tell Sunset something first?" Ozpin responded.

"I don't mind." Tempest said. Ozpin simply smiled before taking out a piece of paper and walking over to Sunset.

"Sunset, I am happy to inform you that your new uniforms will be handled by one of the new part time workers." Ozpin told Sunset.

"Really? I didn't think that someone would help me that fast. I only asked you about this yesterday." Sunset said.

"Well, there is only one thing that they asked you to do and that would be to meet them on the place written on this piece of paper." Ozpin said before handing the paper to Ozpin.

"Ok, I'll head over there after I eat breakfast."Sunset said as she put the piece of paper away.

"Actually, I would advise you three head to the food court and get something to eat from there rather than go to the cafeteria." Ozpin commented.

"Why?" Nova questioned in a confused tone.

"To be honest, I think something is going to happen but I'm not sure what." Ozpin explained. The three students all just looked at each other before just shrugging it off and listening to what their headmaster said. Sunset and Nova left the room and as they did so, Tempest felt the same feeling from a few days ago.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Tempest asked.

"Well, I wanted to talk about one of the new students who registered for this semester." Ozpin said.

"Why do you want to talk about a student?" Tempest asked as she thought about a possible answer.

"It more pertains to you as my personal student than anything else." Ozpin told Tempest.

"Really? Now you've got me curious as to whom you are referring to." Tempest said. In response to that, Ozpin got out a picture of a black haired girl who was wearing a red dress with yellow lining along the arms and center of the dress and had amber Eyes. "This is the student you're talking about?" Tempest asked as she looked at the photo.

"Yes, and she happens to be my old personal student." Ozpin noted.

"She was your old personal student?" Tempest asked out of surprise.

"She was indeed my old personal student and a very promising one at that. However, there was an incident that we had and we haven't seen each other since then." Ozpin said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Tempest stayed quiet as she looked at the picture.

"Who is she?" Tempest asked.

"Her name is Cinder Fall." Ozpin responded. When Tempest heard the name, she was shocked and immediately thought back to the story Sunset told her.

"What do you want me to do?" Tempest questioned, faking a serious tone.

"It has been five years since I've seen Cinder and when she came up to my office, I knew that she was planning something." Ozpin said as he walked to the window in the room.

"So, you want me to keep an eye on her?" Tempest asked.

"That is what I would like you to do. More specifically, I want you to see if she is planning anything and let me know about it." Ozpin told Tempest. Tempest simply nodded in response to that, even though Ozpin couldn't see her. "Good. I knew I could count on you." Ozpin said proudly.

"By the way, I wanted to ask why there are two holes in the back of all my uniforms." Tempest said innocently.

"Well, I figured that since you are a Pegasus Faunus, you would appreciate the addition." Ozpin told Tempest with a slight smirk on his face. Tempest simply sighed in response to that.

"How long have you know?" Tempest asked in a slightly somber tone.

"I've known ever since the day of the incident. After all, I was one of the people who survived." Ozpin said calmly, taking a sip of his coffee. When Tempest heard that last part, she instantly looked down out of sadness.

"I'm sorry." Tempest said quietly as she felt a wave of guilt wash over her.

"There's no need to apologies, what's done is done. I appreciate the seatmate though." Ozpin said simply.

"If I had known that was going to happen, I would never have accepted the offer." Tempest said.

"If we had known that was going to happen, then we would have stopped the procedure." Ozpin told Tempest. At that point, Tempest couldn't control her emotions anymore and she kneeled on the ground and started to cry. After a few moments of silence, Ozpin walked up to Tempest and kneeled down to her. "There are several things I could say to make you feel better, but I feel like all I can tell you is to let go and move on." Ozpin told Tempest.

"What should I let go of? These repressed feeling? The memory of those killed?" Tempest asked through her tears.

"I would start a little at a time, but maybe a trip to the ruins would be a good thing for you." Ozpin said. Tempest stayed silent as she stopped crying."I have to go and take care of some things. I'll see you later Tempest." Ozpin told Tempest as he got up and left. A few moments later, Tempest got up.

" _Are you ok?_ " Ace asked Tempest.

"I'll be fine; it's just that I didn't know." Tempest told Ace.

" _There's no way you could have known. Either way, Ozpin does make a point._ " Ace commented.

"I know he does, but how does he expect me to do that?" Tempest asked.

" _Well, why don't you start by talking with your friends about different things? Maybe that will help get your mind off of the incident._ " Ace suggested.

"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." Tempest said.

" _Well, I am your other half for a reason._ " Ace said before going quiet. Tempest then quickly hopped up and headed to the door. As she did, she felt her Scroll vibrate. Out of curiosity, Tempest pulled out the device and saw that she got a message from Weiss.

" _Guess she noticed the number._ " Tempest thought as she checked the message. When she read the message she instantly grew a little worried.

" _Hey, is it ok if we can talk before lunch? I need to talk to you about something. -Weiss_ "

" _That doesn't seem that like a good sign._ " Tempest thought as she headed towards the dining hall.

* * *

After arriving in the dining hall, she got something to eat and found her team sitting down and talking with each other. "Hey everyone, sorry I'm late." Tempest said as she took a seat between Shade and Wind.

"It's no problem; we actually just got here ourselves." Phaze said as she put down some of her food.

"Really? I imagine that the cafeteria was out of food so they told you to come here." Tempest said.

"How did you guess that?" Wind asked, surprised that Tempest knew exactly what happened.

"Just a feeling that I had." Tempest said as she began to eat her food.

"You actually came at a great time, we were actually talking about how it's going to work now that we're at Beacon." Shade commented.

"What do you mean by that?" Tempest asked.

"Well, since you did kind of leave your house rented to someone, how are you going to make sure it's ok?" Emrel asked.

"I'm not going to worry about that too much, it's in someone's capable hands. What about you guys?" Tempest responded.

"We did the same thing that you did; we rented it out to someone. Didn't get the name of who was staying there, but she looked nice." Phaze said.

"Ok, what did she look like?" Tempest asked.

"I don't have the best memory in the world, but I recall her wearing green, having light green hair, and having some sort of marking along her arms." Phaze told Tempest. Tempest simply nodded as a few people who matched that vague description came into mind.

"Actually, I remember asking that person her name." Wind commented.

"Really? Do you happen to remember what it was?" Tempest asked curiously.

"I think it was something along the lines of Theta." Wind told Tempest. When Tempest heard that name, she simply nodded and went back to eating.

"Theta is a weird name." Emrel commented.

"Emrel, you need to be more respectful." Shade told her brother.

"He does make a point though, do you think Theta could be a code name of sorts?" Tempest suggested.

"It is entirely possible that Theta is a code name, but I think it would be best to talk about it for another time." Phaze said. Everyone agreed and silently went back to eating, talking about various things about Beacon as they did.

* * *

After they ate breakfast and went to all of their morning classes, Tempest was sitting in the library reading a book when she was approached by Weiss. "Do you mind if I sit here?" Weiss asked.

"Go ahead." Tempest said as she continued reading her book. Weiss took a seat across from Tempest and just sat there. Tempest then sighed and closed her book. "I take it that something came up." Tempest said.

"Well, something kind of did." Weiss said, a hint of sadness in her voice. Tempest heard the sadness and started to piece together what is going on.

"If there is anything you need to talk about, you know that I'm willing to listen." Tempest told Weiss in a kind voice. Weiss nodded to that and limply looked down.

"To tell you the truth, something kind of happened in my family." Weiss admitted.

"I'm going to guess that's why you sent me this message." Tempest said as she showed Weiss her Scroll. When Weiss read the message, she blushed a little.

"That actually wasn't meant for you." Weiss said.

"Really?" Tempest questioned.

"That was actually meant for Ruby." Weiss said.

"So, I'm going to guess you choose me by accident?" Tempest said. Weiss simply nodded in response to that statement. "It's fine, we all make mistakes by that. Besides, if the issue is what I'm thinking it is, it might have been for the best that you messaged me." Tempest said. Weiss stayed quiet as she let that sink in.

"The thing is, I kind of don't want a lot people to know about this issue." Weiss told Tempest. Tempest then went quiet as she thought of what to do and realized something.

"Well, what about a little deal?" Tempest offered.

"What kind of deal?" Weiss asked in a slightly hostile voice.

"It's nothing that big of a deal. All I want to ask is in exchange for taking you somewhere private, you keep some secrets of mine quiet." Tempest offered.

"What secrets?" Weiss asked.

"I'll tell you when we get to the location." Tempest said. Weiss went quiet as she thought about that offer.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Besides, we need to go somewhere private anyway." Weiss said.

"Ok, then just follow me." Tempest said as she got up from the chair. As she got up, Weiss noticed something odd about her uniform.

"Hey Tempest, did you tear your uniform?" Weiss asked. Tempest was confused for a moment before she realized what Weiss was talking about.

"Oh, you mean the two tears on the back of my uniform?" Tempest responded.

"That would be right." Weiss said.

"Those are supposed to be there. As to why, it's one of the things I want to tell you about." Tempest told Weiss. Weiss simply nodded in response before she got up and followed Tempest out of the library.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking, the two arrived at the pathway to the roof of Beacon and started to walk down it. The pathway was a straight hallway with a set of stairs at the end leading up to a door. "Are you sure it's ok to be up here?" Weiss asked nervously as she looked behind them.

"I wouldn't worry too much about getting caught." Tempest told Weiss.

"Why is that?" Weiss questioned.

"Well, it may come as a surprise to you, but I'm actually Ozpin's personal student." Tempest told Weiss. Weiss was very surprised when she heard that.

"Really? Then the rumors I've heard are true?" Weiss asked.

"Rumors?" Tempest responded.

"There have been rumors going around that Ozpin did have a personal student, but there were various guesses on who it was." Weiss told Tempest.

"Do you mind telling me some of the ones you heard?" Tempest asked she Tempest started to climb the set of stairs.

"Well, some of them included people like me and Pyrrha, but there were some weird ones like Jaune and one of the new students." Weiss said.

"Out of curiosity, did you happen to hear the name Cinder from anyone?" Tempest questioned as they reached the door. Weiss thought about that for a moment before nodded her head no.

"Why do you ask for that specific name?" Weiss asked curiously.

"It's part of the secret." Tempest said as she opened the door and went through. Weiss followed Tempest and was amazed by the sight in front of her. The two were on a platform that took up a lot of space on the roof with water fountain in the center, several benches along rows cherry trees in bloom, a couple of viewing platforms at each of the cardinal directions, and a huge clear dome over the entire platform.

"Wow." Weiss managed to get out as she looked around the platform.

"It's really amazing right?" Tempest asked.

"I'm very surprised that this is even here. As much as I've read about Beacon, I've never read anything about this place.

"Hey, you should know very well that Ozpin likes to keep his fair share of secrets." Tempest told Weiss. Weiss simply stayed silent as she walked forward and looked around. As she walked to the fountain, she saw an odd statue in the center of the fountain. The statue looked like one of Weiss' Glyphs, but had various symbols towards the edges of the circle.

"Hey Tempest, what is this statue?" Weiss asked.

"I'm actually not sure. Ozpin probably knows, but he just says that 'I'll know when the time comes' when I ask him about it." Tempest told Weiss. Weiss stayed silent as she thought about what she should say first.

"So, should I start by telling you what has got me worked up?" Weiss asked nervously. Tempest simply stayed silent before she walked over to one of the benches and motioned for Weiss to do the same. Weiss sighed before she walked over and sat down next to Tempest.

"If I'm going to be perfectly honest with you Tempest, I actually received a letter today." Weiss said.

"Who was the letter from?" Tempest asked cautiously.

"My dad." Weiss said simply, a frown starting to appear on her face. Tempest simply nodded in understanding as she tried to recall who Weiss' father was.

"Could you remind me who your father is? I've had a lot of stuff on my mind and I forgot the specifics." Tempest asked.

"I don't mind. My father Jacques Schnee is the current president of the Schnee Dust Company. He's basically the one who decides how the shipments are handled, where the money goes, and the one who takes care of me and my siblings." Weiss told Tempest. Tempest simply nodded as told her about her father.

"So, what did the letter say?" Tempest asked as she leaned forward a little. Weiss stayed silent a for a little as she thought of what to say.

"I was a letter to tell me that my mother, Crystal Schnee, had passed away a few weeks ago." Weiss said as she started to tear up. Tempest stayed silent as she thought about what to say.

"I honestly don't know what to say." Tempest told Weiss.

"It's fine, I didn't expect you to say anything nice anyway." Weiss said. Tempest went quiet as a thought popped into her mind.

"What kind of a person was your mother?" Tempest asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Weiss responded.

"I want to know what I can to see if I can help you." Tempest told Weiss. Weiss stayed silent for a moment as she thought about answering that question.

"My mother was a nice person. She was always so kind, she encouraged me to look after my future, and she made sure that me and my siblings were living happy lives." Weiss explained.

"Your father is kind of a pain in the ass?" Tempest asked, a small smile appearing on her face. Weiss just looked at Tempest before just sighing.

"Was it really was that obvious?" Weiss responded.

"No, but I just have this strange feeling that I know where you're going with this." Tempest told Weiss.

"Well, you would be correct in that regard. While my mother was very nice with us, our father was just an outright pain in the ass." Weiss said before she covered her mouth.

"You know, if you want to let out some pent up frustration and such, I don't mind." Tempest told Weiss as she leaned back on the bench. Weiss simply nodded in appreciation, got up off the bench, and started to pace..

"Where do I start with how much of a pain in the ass my father is? He is a complete and other douchebag with little regard for anyone who doesn't have similar views as him, even his own family. He wants to keep my siblings and I 'safe' with little mind for what we want to do. He treats us like we're just objects to him, showing very little emotion. And the biggest thing that ticks me off about him is his complete obsession for anything involving money!"

After Weiss finished with that last part of her rant, she stopped pacing and clenched her fist. "The worst part of it all is that I imagine that my father is actually a bit sad about my mother's death. She was the only one that he really cared about." Weiss said before she kneeled on the ground.

"Weiss, are you ok?" Tempest said as she got up to check on her.

"I miss her so much. My mother was the only one who truly understood what I wanted. She was the only one of my family member who pushed for me become a huntress. She even helped me come here to Vale to attend Beacon." Weiss said as she started to cry. Tempest crossed her arms and closed her eyes as she thought about what to do.

"She really is just like me." Tempest said to herself before she smiled and walked over to Weiss. As she was crying Weiss, feathers at her sides and looked up to see that she was enveloped in a pair of wings. "You don't have to cry anymore." Tempest told Weiss.

"Tempest, what's…" Weiss said through her tears before being stopped by Tempest.

"Don't talk right now, just let this happen." Tempest said as she hugged Weiss. Weiss did as she was told and let the tears flow from her. After a few moments, Weiss stopped crying and Tempest walked in front of her. "Here." Tempest said simply, extending her hand. Weiss took Tempest's hand and she helped her up.

"Thanks, I appreciate the help." Weiss said as she wiped away the last of the tears.

"Don't mention it." Tempest said happily. Weiss stayed silent for a moment as she looked at Tempest's current state.

"So, are you a Faunus or a human?" Weiss asked curiously.

"Well, I honestly don't have an answer to that. That's mainly because I don't remember much of my past up to a certain point." Tempest told Weiss.

"So, partial amnesia then." Weiss said.

"That is correct, but it's less amnesia and more mental suppression. I honestly don't know what is causing it." Tempest said as she walked. Weiss simply nodded in response as she walked around to Tempest to examine her wings.

"What type of Faunus are you?" Weiss asked.

"I'm actually a Pegasus Faunus." Tempest told Weiss as she flapped her wings.

"A Pegasus? Aren't there a legendary creature?" Weiss asked.

"They are, but is possible that a Faunus is born with trait of mythical creatures like Pegasi." Tempest explained.

"That is interesting, how come I haven't heard of these types of Faunus before?" Weiss commented.

"Well, we are very rare, so it would make sense that people wouldn't hear of us often." Tempest said. Weiss thought there was something fishy with the way Tempest explained it, but her Scroll started to ring before she could say anything. When she took out her Scroll, she saw that it was Ruby calling her.

"Oh, I should probably take this." Weiss said.

"It's fine, I actually need to make a call myself." Tempest told Weiss. Weiss simply nodded and walked a little bit away so she could speak with Ruby in private. After Weiss walked away, Tempest took out her Scroll and dialed Sunset's number. After waiting a few seconds for her to answer, Sunset picked up.

"Hello?" Sunset asked, unsure if she was doing the right thing.

"Hey Sunset, how are you?" Tempest asked joyfully.

"I'm doing well, how about you?" Sunset responded.

"I'm fine, just finishing up a little talk with someone." Tempest said. Sunset simply nodded and decided to say something.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Sunset asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

"Well, I wanted to talk about that matter I brought up a few days ago." Tempest said.

"Ok, but do we have to talk about this now?" Sunset questioned.

"No, but that's why I was going to ask if we could meet up in two days." Tempest offered. Sunset went silent for a moment as she thought about the offer.

"I don't mind, but if it's alright with you, I want a friend of mine to tag along." Sunset said.

"That is perfectly fine with me. I'll see you and your friend in two days." Tempest responded.

"Ok, where do you want to meet up?" Sunset questioned.

"Just in front of the school." Tempest responded.

"Got it, see you then." Sunset said before she hung up. After Tempest put the phone away, she simply smiled.

"If I would hazard a guess at who that friend is, I would say that it would be Cinder." Tempest thought to herself. After thinking that, she noticed Weiss walk up to her.

"I need to go; I totally forgot I need to take care of something with my team." Weiss said as she started to head towards the exit. In response Tempest stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Actually, I have an idea that might work and be faster." Tempest told Weiss.

"What would that be?" Weiss asked. Tempest then whispered her plan into Weiss' ear.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Weiss asked as she was held in Tempest's arms.

"To be completely honest, this is a terrible idea." Tempest said as she stood on the edge of one of the viewing platforms.

"That doesn't give me much confidence." Weiss said as she gripped Tempest's neck tighter.

"Come on, this might be a once in a life time chance." Tempest said enthusiastically. Weiss looked down at the ground before she gulped and closed her eyes.

"Just make it quick." Weiss said nervously. Tempest simply nodded and jumped off the viewing platform. After jumping off the platform, Tempest straightened out as much as she could before opening her wings and flapping them. With the weight of two people, it was difficult, but Tempest eventually managed to get into a glide.

"You can open your eyes now." Tempest told Weiss. Weiss nervously opened her eyes and saw that they were indeed flying.

"You were really able to do it?" Weiss asked nervously.

"Apparently, although I'm only able to maintain a glide." Tempest told Weiss.

"That makes sense. After all, you have to support the both of our weights." Weiss commented.

"So, what do you think of this?" Tempest asked. Weiss stayed as she let the feeling of the rushing register.

"It's nice, just the feeling of wind is going by and knowing that the ground is really far below is something oddly comforting." Weiss said.

"I had a feeling that you would like it." Tempest said happily, a smile forming on her face. The two stayed in silence for a moment as they glided down.

"I don't mean to ruin this moment, but where do you plan on landing?" Weiss asked.

"Just trust me, I have an idea." Tempest told Weiss. Weiss simply nodded as the two got closer to the ground. As they approached the ground, Tempest turned to a nearby tree and got out a vial of Wind Dust.

"Why do you have that on you?" Weiss asked.

"It's just something I'm known for." Tempest said as she opened the vial. As she the Dust escaped the vial, a small vortex of wind appeared beneath Tempest. Weiss remained silent as she decided to just let what was going to happen. As they approached the tree, Tempest turned back to her human form and let the vortex of wind guide them to the ground. After a few seconds of floating down, Tempest touched the ground and the vortex dispersed into the air.

"Ok, that was pretty cool. Where did you learn to do that?" Weiss asked as Tempest set her down.

"Would you believe me if I said that it was my Semblance?" Tempest responded. Weiss simply smiled and was about to ask something, until she noticed the serious expression on Tempest's face.

"You're being serious?" Weiss asked

"Of course I am, what you just saw was my Semblance in action." Tempest told Weiss.

"The ability to manipulate Dust and use it how you like." Weiss said to herself.

"That's correct. What do you think about it?" Tempest asked.

"I think it is an amazing Semblance, but it also seems like an unnatural one." Weiss said. Tempest stayed silent for a moment before she smiled a little.

"I can see why people think you're smart." Tempest said seriously. Weiss looked at Tempest with a confused look." My Semblance isn't natural at all, it was manmade." Tempest explained.

"Really? What caused you to get it in that case?" Weiss asked. Tempest went quiet and looked down at the ground, a look of sadness and grief on her face. "Right, sorry I asked." Weiss said awkwardly when she saw Tempest's reaction.

"No it's fine. I just don't feel like talking about it right now." Tempest told Weiss.

"Ok, just know that I'll always be here if you want to talk." Weiss said. When she heard that, Tempest immediately started to smile again.

"Thanks for that, I appreciate it." Tempest said happily.

"No problem, but I kind of have to get going." Weiss told Tempest.

"Oh right, I'll see you later then." Tempest said. Weiss nodded before she turned around and walked off to join her team. As she walked away, Tempest felt a familiar presence in her mind.

"So, what do you think of her Ace?" Tempest asked.

" _She is interesting, I will say that much._ " Ace said, choosing his words carefully.

"Fair choice of words, but what do you thing about that thing I was telling you about earlier? Did anything about the two of us strike you as odd?" Tempest asked. Ace stayed silent for a moment before responded.

" _Well, I can see why you consider her one of your own._ " Ace responded.

"So you did sense it?" Tempest questioned.

" _I'm just saying I sensed something similar, not exactly what you told me to look out for._ " Ace said.

"The years might have dulled to response signal." Tempest said to herself.

" _However, I did find something interesting while trying to look for the signal._ " Ace told Tempest.

"What is it?" Tempest asked.

" _It was one of_ their _symbols._ " Ace said, showing a mental picture of the symbol to Tempest. When she got the mental image, Tempest simply smiled.

"That is interesting." Tempest said.

"I'll keep an eye out for anything that might be related. Right now, I want you to think about what you're going to say when you meet up with Sunset." Ace said before going silent. Tempest simply nodded and headed back to the school to go about the rest of her day.


	14. Chapter 12

AN:

So, I figure before we start, I should get a few things out of the way.

\- First off, I'm sorry for the long wait between the last chapter and this chapter, a lot of stuff happened and I've been feeling out of it lately.

\- Second off, This chapter is going to be split into two parts, the first of which is this chapter.

\- Third off, the fight in this chapter is meant to showcase how Tempst fights, I'll get more into the rest of the team later.

\- Finally, I'm not saying anything about the things that happen with the person at the end of the chapter. It would spoil the surprise later.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

 **Chapter 12: Going Wild & A Meeting of Equals (Part 1)**

Two days had gone by since Tempest had met with Weiss and set up the meeting with Sunset. At the moment, Tempest was alone in their room, sitting on her bed and thinking about bringing up a few topics that related to the White Fang. "Hey Tempest, mind if I ask you something?" Ace asked.

"Sure go ahead." Tempest responded.

"Do you still think about _that_ time of our life?" Ace questioned. Tempest than immediately stopped thinking about the meeting and started to think about that question. As Tempest thought back to the good old days, she immediately smiled.

"Of course I do. For better or for worse, it was what made me think about what I wanted to do in life." Tempest told Ace.

"You still think of it as even when we encountered _him_?" Ace asked. Tempest then sighed as she recalled exactly the moment that Ace was talking about.

"Yes, I do." Tempest said in a very defeated sounding tone.

"Why?" Ace inquired.

"Well, I guess you could say that it was the first time that I realized that I was never alone." Tempest said.

"I don't follow you." Ace said. Tempest then got up off the bed and started to walk.

"I guess you could say that it was really the first time that I realized that I was fighting alongside friends and people who shared similar goals." Tempest said as she preceded to walk down the stairs. Ace stayed quiet as he let that sit in his mind for a moment.

"I understand now and it makes your behavior after that point all the more understandable." Ace commented.

"Why do you say that?" Tempest asked as she stopped at the foot of the stairs.

"Before that encounter, you were always cold, silent, and rarely spoke up or interacted with your teammates. After we had that encounter, I noticed that you were a lot more active and happy." Ace explained. Tempest simply smiled at that and walked to the window wall before stopping in front of it.

"I'm glad you understand that and know that you'll always be my friend Ace, no matter what happens." Tempest told Ace.

"Why the sudden empathy towards me?" Ace asked.

"Just thought that I should let you know. I also have a bad feeling the near future." Tempest told Ace as she crossed her arms. Ace was about to comment, but something else got his attention.

"Tempest, your contained power is at max." Ace told Tempest. Tempest immediately brought the brace up to her face and saw that the medal she had put on there was fully red.

"Oh why now, it's almost time for that meeting with Sunset." Tempest said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Can't you just tell her that you'll be a little late?" Ace asked. Tempest thought about that possibility for a moment before she realized something.

"I could, but this actually gives me an opportunity to do something." Tempest said as she went back upstairs and got her scroll. Tempest then wrote a quick message and sent it to Sunset before pocketing her scroll and grabbing her Frost Edges.

"What did you send her?" Ace asked.

"Just that I wanted to meet at the usual place instead of in front of the school." Tempest said as she grabbed her bag and left the room.

"Ah, I see what you're plan is now." Ace said. Tempest simply nodded before she walked to where the motorcycles were stored.

* * *

After getting to the garage, she instantly saw that Palom and Porom were there checking out her motorcycles. "How is looking Palom?" Porom asked her brother who was looking at the various parts of the bike.

"Honestly, the bike looks like it's in great shape. Tempest must do a real good job at looking after this thing." Palom said as he wiped some sweat off his face.

"Of course I do, it was a gift from my father." Tempest chimed in as she walked up to the two of them.

"Oh hey there, Tempest. I didn't realize you were here." Porom said in a carefree tone.

"I could say the same thing to you two. I didn't realize that you two worked here." Tempest said as she noticed the employee badges on their outfits.

"Well, Ozpin did offer us a place to stay here while also keeping us safe from any White Fang that might come here." Palom said.

"What makes you think that the White Fang will come after you?" Tempest asked curiously. Porom then shot a quick glance at Palom, who simply smiled, before sighing.

"I guess there is not much point hiding it with you. We're kind of on the run from the White Fang because of something we did." Porom admitted in a nervous tone. Tempest simply nodded in understanding before feeling a familiar feeling in the back of her mind.

"I'll have to ask about that story another time. For now, I have to go somewhere. I take it you were done checking my bike?" Tempest said.

"Um, of course we were. Just need to check how it runs." Palom said.

"No need for that, I can do something real quick." Tempest said. Before either Palom or Porom could object, Tempest went ahead. "Zephyr, initiate start up sequence and run a diagnostics check." Tempest said.

"Acknowledged." A robotic voice said as the bike started up. Palom and Porom, who were surprised by that action, turned and looked at Wind.

"Tempest, your bike has an AI?" Porom asked out of surprise.

"Yep, my father actually made this bike for me." Tempest said with a smile. Before Palom or Porom could comment, Zephyr spoke up.

"Diagnostic check complete. All system fully operational." Zephyr said.

"Well, I guess that we're done here." Palom said as he grabbed Tempest's helmet, which was on a nearby table and handed it to her. Tempest simply grabbed her helmet before putting it on and getting on Zephyr.

"By the way Zephyr, I want you register these two in your system data so they can access your functions." Tempest told her AI.

"Who are the two you would like me to register?" Zephyr asked as Tempest motioned for Palom and Porom to go in front of the bike. They both silently agreed before walking in front of Zephyr.

"The two that are in front of you." Tempest told Zephyr. Zephyr responded by simply scanning the appearance of Palom and Porom.

"Appearance data stored. May I ask for your names?" Zephyr asked the two.

"Palom Avitar." Palom said simply. When Tempest heard the last name, she simply stayed neutral on the matter.

"Porom Avitar." Porom said.

"Voice data and Names stored. Nice too meet you Master Palom and Miss Porom." Zephyr said. As Palom let out a sigh, Tempest simply chuckled a little.

"Now I can understand a little bit why the White Fang are after you." Tempest told the two. Palom and Porom simply looked away as they walked to the garage door and opened it.

"Please keep our last names a secret for now." Porom pleaded in a kind voice.

"Don't worry, you're secret is safe with me." Tempest said. Palom and Porom simply looked at each other briefly before letting out a sigh of relief and leaving the garage. " _So, that's who the children are. Don't worry Upsilon, I'm going to make sure that we keep our promise._ " Tempest thought to herself before taking off to her destination.

[hl]

After a few minutes of driving, she arrived at the edge of the Emerald Forest. "I hope you know what you're doing Tempest." Ace told Tempest.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. When have I ever steered you wrong before?" Tempest said as she walked into the forest.

"Well, there was that one time..." Ace started top say.

"Quiet you." Tempest said with a smile, making Ace laugh a little. After walking for a few moments, Tempest arrived in a somewhat destroyed outpost. Most outposts that were outside the main cities were four houses a radio tower and a watch tower. The one Tempest was at was at was one of the more special outposts. In very rare cases, if an area is known to be safe for an extended period of time, people will actually build a large heavily defendable facility to use as a watch tower. However, the one in front of Tempest had most of the outer wall destroyed and one of the side buildings looked like something ate chunks of it off.

"Remind me, what is this place and why is this place in this state again?" Ace asked as they walked closer to the facility. Tempest took a moment as she thought about what to tell her.

"From what I've been able to gather, this lookout post known as Emerald Command was basically the main hub for all lookout posts in the Emerald Forest. If something happened at a lookout post, all news like that will come here eventually. However, this was also built before the kingdoms started to communicate with each other a lot. As you can probably guess, this place was abandoned and left to the wild Grimm in the area. You can see what has happened to it over the years."

"Wow, that's a lot to take in." Ace said.

"I also took the liberty to hide your weapon here Ace." Tempest told Ace. Ace was about to say something, but stopped when she noticed something.

"I would recommend you be careful, we have company." Ace warned. Tempest then looked ahead and saw several Beowolfs, about 10 to 12 in total, and an Ursa wandering around the area.

"Well, that seems like a problem." Tempest said as got her Frost Edges ready.

"It is, but this could prove a good excuse to vent some power." Ace said in preparation.

"You know, you make a good point." Tempest said as she looked at her brace.

"Just know that when you disable the limiter, you will probably catch the Grimm's attention." Ace said before going silent. Tempest simply nodded before think about a course of action.

"Disable limiter level 1. Recognition code: Joker." Tempest said aloud as she braced herself. The brace beeped twice before she felt a small influx of power rack her whole body, bringing her to one knee. "Wow, forgot how much I had stored." Tempest thought as she recovered. When she did, she looked straight forward and saw the Beowolfs running towards her. Tempest then stood back up before thinking of a battle plan.

Tempest decided to take the initiative and grab a vial of wind Dust. She opened it, called out a small amount of Dust before closing it and putting it away. She then used the Dust on her feet before running forward towards the Grimm. Thanks to her semblance, the Wind Dust increased her movement speed by a bit, which was good for her. The increased speed was more than enough for her to run up and slash at one of the charging Beowolfs. The cut on the Beowolf that Tempest left had a sort of frost on it. Tempest instantly recognized the frost as Ice Dust and then turned back to the Beowolf she had slashed before continuing her attack.

The Beowolf swiped a claw at her, but Tempest managed to dodge and land four more attacks on the Beowolf. Tempest then heard another Beowolf coming from behind and jumped over the one she was fighting. As she jumped, she kicked the Beowolf in the back of the head which caused it to stumble forward into the charging one that Tempest heard. Tempest the snapped her fingers and the small areas of Ice Dust over the cuts and slashes she had dealt, instantly hardened into icicles. The icicles impaled the two Beowolfs, killing them both before two more ran past their corpses.

As soon as Tempest saw them doing that, she snapped her fingers again and the icicles exploded outward into small shards. The shards embedded themselves into the two Beowolfs, seemingly not hurting them. Tempest then pressed a button on the side of the grips to both of her elbow blades. The tips of the blades shifted to reveal a gun muzzle and the secondary blade shifted in to make a mock scope. The grip that she was holding onto moved to the bottom and a trigger formed near where the grip meet the pistol.

" _Still love the fact that she thought of me when making these._ " Tempest thought as she took aim at the Beowolfs before she started to fire at the left Grimm. The projectile that left the gun were indeed bullets, but they left streaks of fire and lightning as they traveled through the air. The bullets penetrated both of the Beowolfs' hide, but didn't do anything to stop their approach. Tempest responded by running out of the way and moving to avoid danger. Another Beowolf tried to stop her, but she rolled out of the way and turned to face the Beowolf that tried to attack her.

Tempest immediately ran up and slid under the Beowolf, putting something a vial of Dust him as she did. She immediately turned and shot the Grimm in front of her a few more times, making it step back. The Beowolf, more than slightly annoyed, ran forward to attack her and stepped on the vial as it did so. The Dust in the Vial spread in the air around the Beowolf, making stop and look at the Dust. Tempest used this opportunity to aim the left gun at the Beowolf and concentrate a little, causing a small Glyph in front of the muzzle.

She fired and the bullet was enveloped in flames as it went through the Glyph and traveled through the air. As the bullet entered the area with the Dust, the Dust ignited and exploded all around the Beowolf, killing it. Tempest then saw the two other Beowolfs that she had shot earlier coming at her, so she turned and threw a vial of blue Dust in the air. Tempest then jumped back and aimed her right gun as she did, a purple glyph forming over the muzzle this time. Tempest fired the bullet as the two Beowolfs were right in front of the vial and let loose a lighting fast bullet that shattered the vial.

The vial the shattered outward with water and electricity, shocking the two Beowolfs. The electricity even managed to cause the bullets in them to react, making the two explode in a mixture of fire and electricity. After she made that shot, she heard a beeping sound from both her pistols. Tempest the sighed as she turned her Frost Edges back into elbow blades. As they did, two vials came from the ends of the grips and fell onto the ground. " _One thing that sucks about that maneuver is that it eats up all the ammunition I load in. A bit of an inconvenience, but a lot of power._ " Tempest thought as she put the vials away.

Tempest then heard a stomping and looked up to see the Ursa approaching. She then heard some sort of grunting from under its breath before it roared and charged at Tempest. Tempest then decided to take things up a notch and brought the brace up to her face. "Disable Limiter 2. Recognition code: Jack." Tempest said before she threw her left Frost Edge into the air.

"Acknowledged." the brace said.

Tempest then felt another surge of energy, but paid no mind to it. As the power coursed through her, black symbols appeared on the back of her neck, on her elbows, and on the backs of her upper legs. She then heard the blade she had thrown up some back down about 30 feet above her head. She waited until the blade was about 10 feet off the ground and then threw her other Frost Edge to meet it. The two swords them fused in the middle and the blade extended forward, the grips moving to become a handle for the sword. Tempest the caught the sword in her right hand and slashed the air with it.

"Now then, time to get wild. Just try and stop me!" Tempest said before running forward with sword in hand. Tempest rolled out of the way as she dodged the Ursa before slashing at the side of it. The Ursa ignored the attack and simply turned around to face her. When it did, she noticed that part of its fur was white instead of black.

"Tempest, you see that right?" Ace said in her mind.

"Of course I do, but this puts us in a tight situation now." Tempest said as the Ursa came forward with another claw swipe. Tempest dodged out of the way and looked around at the Beowolfs. When she did, she saw that they all had patches of white fur and were closing in on her.

"Why did we have to run into Calming Grimm now?" Ace commented with a groan.

"I don't think they were all being calmed. The Beowolfs I got rid of earlier were all black." Tempest said as she used her sword to parry another attack from the Ursa.

"Well then, what do we do about this situation?" Ace asked. Tempest stayed silent for a moment before lifting the brace up to her face.

"Recognition Code: Clock Up." Tempest said simply.

"Acknowledged. Clock Up initiated." The brace said. After the brace said that, the world around Tempest seemed to slow down immensely. Tempest then fell to one knee and groaned in pain as the markings on her back started to slowly snake their way up her body.

"Tempest! What are you doing?!" Ace asked in an alarmed tone.

"I'm making a solution to this problem." Tempest said as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a pair of vials with a white substance in them. "Accelerators for the Calming Grimm. Iota helped me with them." Tempest explained before Ace could speak up. Tempest then inserted the two vials into the hilt of the blade, a white symbol forming onto the guard of the sword as she did.

"Are you planning on activating those yourself?" Ace questioned. Tempest simply responded by standing up, wincing in pain as she did so as the symbols continued their movement. "You'll knock yourself unconscious if you do this you know." Ace said in an extremely worried tone.

"I know, that's why you're taking control." Tempest said as she stuck her sword in the ground. Before Ace could respond, Tempest pressed a button on her brace and the sword blade became charged with white energy. "Take care of the rest, aibou." Tempest said with a smile, before Tempest took the blade out of the ground and held it in both hands.

" **Purifying Wave!** "

After Tempest yelled that, she spun around in a circle as her sword extended and slashed all the Grimm. "Clock Over!" Tempest and the brace said at the same time. Time went back to normal and the Grimm were all sent flying backwards, unconscious and a white cut through them. Tempest panted heavily for a moment as she held her sword out before she fell back and passed out. The last thing she felt before going unconscious was the feeling of someone supporting her.

* * *

Upon waking up, Ace was lying on the ground exactly where Tempest passed out. In the right hand, she felt Tempest's Frost Edges in their short sword form. Ace slowly sat up and used the sword to help her to her feet. She then sighed and separated the sword back into the elbow blades. "So, that's what she was planning all along." Ace said to herself as she put away the blades in their sheaths.

"Excuse me, are you the one who Calmed us?" a voice asked from behind Ace. Ace turned around and saw the Ursa from before standing there. However, instead of black fur and red lines around it's body, there was pure white fur with bright blue lines. Ace then looked around and saw that the Beowolfs had the same thing happen to them.

"I wasn't the one who Calmed you all, but my... friend did." Ace told the group.

"Either way, you have our thanks. My name is Teru, leader of this small group. What's your name?" Teru said as he walked past Ace. Ace thought about how to answer that question and decided to answer truthfully.

"Ace, Ace Schnee." Ace told Teru as she walked forward.

"That's a nice name, thought I swear that you made up that last name. Almost all Grimm, Calmed or not, know about the Schnee family and you're not one of them." Teru told Ace.

"Trust me, it's a complicated story." Ace said.

"I won't pry about that, but I do have to ask about why you and your friend came here." Teru said as they approached the ruins of Emerald Command. Ace sighed and explained the meeting that Tempest was supposed to have. "I see, so you want us to leave?" Teru asked.

"You don't have to leave, but I would recommend you stay out of sight." Ace told Teru. Teru seemed a bit sad at that she told him that. "You need a place to call home, don't you?" Ace questioned in a companionate tone.

"Was it that obvious?" Teru responded.

"Well, what if I said that I know a place where there are more like you?" Ace offered. Teru then paid attention to Ace as his curiosity peaked. "Go north of here about 50 miles and you'll come across a village of Calmed Grimm. Say my name and they should let you in no problem." Ace told Teru as she pointed in a direction.

"Thank you Ace, this favor won't be forgotten. Both you and your friend saved us, we will help you when needed." Teru said before he walked away and joined the other Beowolfs. Ace then smiled as she leaned up against a container and looked up at the half broken stone tower.

"Guess, I should head towards there and claim my weapon." Ace thought as she walked towards the tower. As she got closer to the tower, she concentrated and felt two faint pulses coming from two directions: one from the tower and one from the northwest of her position. "I know that the pulse from the tower is my weapon, but what is this other pulse?" Ace said to herself as she thought for a little bit. She quickly dismissed the thought as she approached the tower and entered through a huge hole in the wall.

The room that the hole lead to was fairly empty except for a few things. The first was this metal locker on the far wall with a slightly open door. The second was a full length mirror that looked brand new compared to everything else hanging on the far wall next to the locker. The last was this big computer consol on Ace's right that, despite it's old look, seemed to be intact. As Ace walked into the room, she immediately made for the mirror to look at herself. When she got up to it, she smiled as she saw the transformation that she was used to.

Although they shared the same body, whenever Ace took over, Tempest's body always changed into Ace's old form. The two shared a similar build, but the main things that were different were her physical features. Ace's hair and eyes were snow white, she also had a bigger bust than Tempest and seemed more physically fit. She was also a Pegasus Faunus with a pair of white ears on her head and white wings on her back. Ace also wore different clothes than Tempest, though how their clothes switched when their personalities changed place was beyond her. Ace wore a dark blue jacket, a dark gray shirt with a white ace of spades, white fingerless gloves, blue jeans, and white sneakers.

" _You know, I'm going to slap Tempest when she gets better._ " Ace thought with a smile as she looked towards the locker. When she did, she noticed a long case with he symbol of an black ace of spade with a white snowflake behind it. "She really did get it for me." Ace said as she walked over to the case and opened it.

Inside the case, there was long white spear with red lines on the inside. At around the lower part of the shaft, there was a large bulky hand guard that had a white gem in the middle of it. There was a similar looking hand guard at around the middle of the spear, this one having an upside-down 'V' on it.

As ace got her weapon from the case, she held it both hands and sighed. "It's been so long since I held you Straight Flush." Ace said to the weapon. Ace then swung the V symbol over the brace and the spear disappeared inside it. After it did, a disk with the symbol on the box, Ace's symbol, formed on the top of the circular part of the brace. " _So, this is the weapon disk that Tempest was telling me about._ " Ace thought as she put away the disk. As she did that, she heard two very familiar voices from a fair distance away. "Looks like it's time." Ace thought as she walked up to a higher floor to the building.

* * *

After walking to a higher floor, she looked out of a hole in the wall in the direction the voices were coming from. Ace jumped off the edge of the hole and concentrated on the flow of air around her. As soon as she felt herself reach terminal velocity, she started to slap her wings to slow herself down. After a few seconds, she landed gently on the ground in front of the people. When she looked up, she saw Sunset directly in front of her.

"Who are you?" Sunset asked with a hand nearing her weapon. Ace was about to answer when she saw a very familiar woman walk next to Sunset.

"Calm down Sunset, she's a friend." the person said. Sunset took her hand away from her weapon, but still looked a little tense. Ace then smiled and shook her head.

"So, you're the friend that Sunset wanted to bring?" Ace questioned with a smile.

"Well, I was wondering where that Tempest girl got her information from." the woman said as she walked up to Ace. The two stood there for a moment before they hugged each other.

"It's been too long Cinder." Ace told her old friend.

"I could say the same to you Ace." Cinder responded. Sunset then sighed as she wondered something. Ace noticed this and walked up to Sunset after their hug was finished.

"You must be Sunset, Tempest has told me a lot about you." Ace said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Ace." Sunset said. Ace then extended a hand, which Sunset shook. As she did, Sunset felt calmer for some reason.

"Now you see why a lot of people like Ace. We don't know what causes it, but she emanates an aura of calmness." Cinder chimed in as they finished their handshake.

"It's true, even I'm not sure what causes it." Ace said for a moment. When Ace said that, a thought popped up in Sunset's mind.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, where is Tempest?" Sunset asked cautiously. Ace went quiet for a moment as she thought about what to say.

"That's a bit complicated to explain, but I take it that you saw those Calmed Grimm earlier?" Ace questioned.

"Yes we did." Cinder said.

"Well, Tempest was actually the one who did The Calming on those Grimm." Ace explained.

"Calming?" Sunset asked.

"It's a process in which a regular wild Grimm can be converted to Calmed Grimm. It does take a lot out of a person however, so I imagine that Tempest is resting at the moment." Cinder clarified.

"Wait, so can any Grimm become a Calmed Grimm?" Sunset questioned.

"Not exactly, the Grimm that can be turned need to have a hint of white fur on them or have blue eyes. Even then, you need a special type of Dust to fully Calm them." Ace told Sunset as she walked up to one of the containers.

"Why do you need to use the dust?" Sunset asked. Ace stayed quiet for a moment as she thought about that.

"To be honest, I'm not sure myself. Tempest thinks that it might be some form of ancient magic, but I don't know myself." Ace said.

"That actually brings up a good question. How do you and Tempest know each other?" Cinder inquired. Ace said nothing as she thought about how to answer that, her back still to Sunset and Cinder. As Ace was thinking, Sunset noticed that Tempest's Frost Edges were on her back.

" _Why does she have Tempest's weapon with her?_ " Sunset thought as Ace turned around.

"Well, I guess I should start from the beginning for that one. Before that though, I suggest we get somewhere more comfortable." Ace said as she brought out an ornate whistle. The whistle was made of white wood and had holes in it to let out sound.

"What is that?" Cinder asked. In response, Ace blew on the whistle and let a harmonious sound ring out. After a few seconds of silence, the flapping of very big wings could be heard in the distance. Sunset then got very tense as she assumed a big Grimm was coming and thought about something.

"What did you call?" Sunset questioned as she got ready for anything.

"Don't worry, I just called a friend." Ace said as one of her eyes glowed blue for a moment. After a few seconds a Nevermore Grimm landed in the field in front of the ruined command center. After the dust cleared from the landing, Cinder and Sunset noticed that it was a calmed Grimm.

"Like I said, don't worry." Ace said before she walked forward. As soon as she walked up, they heard the calmed Grimm speak in a series of growls and grunts with Ace doing the same. Cinder and Sunset stayed behind a wall, out f sight for the both of them.

"I didn't think that Ace knew how to speak the Grimm's language." Cinder said as she watched the exchange. Sunset simply nodded as she remember what Cinder was talking about

"If I recall correctly, you told me about the Grimm language when I caught you talking to a Grimm a few months after I became your student." Sunset commented.

"You're right, that is when I first told you about it." Cinder said with a sigh.

"I can kind of understand what they're saying, but I know you can understand everything. What exactly are they saying?" Sunset said. Cinder went quiet for a moment as she listened to what they were talking about.

"From what I can hear, it sounds like the two of them are old friends and Ace wants to take us to her home." Cinder told Sunset, summarizing the best she could. Sunset was about to say something else, but saw Ace walk back towards them.

"Ok, come on. We're going somewhere very private." Ace told the two of them.

"Well, what about Tempest? Are we just going to leave her here?" Sunset asked. Ace simply sighed and stayed silent for a moment before answering.

"It's complicated, but Tempest is coming with us. However, I would like her to be the one to explain that." Ace said as she turned around. Sunset was about to ask what she meant by that, but she could swear that when Ace turned around, she saw Tempest right next to Ace. Sunset shook her head when she saw that and just walked forward. When he two of them got up to the Calmed Nevermore, they noticed that it was about half the size of a regular Nevermore.

"Wow, so this is what a calmed Grimm Nevermore looks like." Cinder said as she looked at the body of it.

"Quick introduction for you two, this is my friend Mia." Ace introduced. When Ace introduced her, Mia took a wing and made a slight bow to the two of them.

"A pleasure to meet you two." Mia said politely. Sunset and Cinder were both surprised that Mia spoke to them in their own language.

"Surprised that she speaks our language? I wouldn't be surprised considering not many Calmed Grimm know our language." Ace commented.

"Ace here taught me how to speak like you do as a 'just in case' as she like to call it." Mia told the two.

"Well, I certainly will say that it's surprising." Cinder said. Sunset simply nodded in response as she just noticed the collar around Mia's neck.

"What's the collar for?" Sunset asked.

"Oh, this is for you two to come with us." Ace said as she walked up to Sunset. As the two stood there, Sunset saw Ace was wearing Tempest's brace. Before she could comment on it, she felt Ace wrap her arms around her waist.

"What are you doing?" Sunset asked. In response, Ace took to the air with Sunset in her grasp.

"Wow, you're kind of heavy." Ace said as she struggled a little bit. Sunset tried her best not to move a lot as Ace lifted her in the air above Mia. On the other side of the collar, the side that was on the back of Mia's neck, Sunset saw a small capsule that had two seats in it. Ace flew down to the capsule and hovered a few feet next to the capsule. "Can you reach it from here?" Ace asked. Sunset responded by reaching her arm out and barely grabbed one of the seats.

"I can reach it." Sunset said as she reached her other arm out. Once Sunset had both arms grabbing the seat, Ace brought Sunset closer before she let go. Sunset acted quickly and dragged herself into the seat.

"Never do that again." Sunset said, still shaking from the feeling of being up in the air.

"Yeah, I should have stopped her sooner, but I wanted to see your reaction." Cinder said as she climbed into the pod and got into the empty seat.

"You know I will find a way to get back at you." Sunset said, making a mental note of this. Cinder simply rolled her eyes at the comment and strapped herself into the seat. As Sunset did the same, Ace flew in front of them.

"Just thought I should let you two know that I'm going to be closing the window so you two don't have to deal with the wind." Ace said as she reached up and closed the window. Ace then flew in front of Mia and gave a thumbs up, signaling that they were ready to go. Mia then spread her wings and took to the sky with Tempest following close behind.

"Wherever we are going, I have the feeling that this just the start of something bigger. After all, if I felt _her_ power again after two years of nothing, then something is going on." Sunset thought as they left the base. Unknown to all of them, there was someone on top of Emerald Central Command watching the four of them leave.

"What do you think? Should I follow them?" the person asked, talking into a communicator.

"Negative Eta, leave them for now. We'll introduce ourselves when the time comes." a voice said on the other end. The person known as Eta simply nodded before putting away the binoculars and teleporting away.


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: A Meeting of Equals (Part 2)**

After about 10 minutes of flying, Sunset and Cinder saw a mountain in the distance. "Wow, I didn't think we would be heading to Mount Emerald." Cinder commented as she noticed the mountain.

"Mount Emerald is in the center of the Emerald Forest right?" Sunset asked.

"That's right, I didn't think that there would be any Grimm living on it though." Cinder said as they approached a big, seemingly man made platform that lead into a cave. Mia took a few quick flaps of her wings and landed near the edge of the platform.

"Welp, this is the place." Mia told the two as Ace came and opened up the pod. As Ace did that, Sunset noticed a few bits of ice on her face and wings.

"Did you go above the clouds?" Sunset asked as she got out.

"Maybe a little bit." Ace said as she shivered a bit. Sunset then hopped out of the capsule and landed on the platform with Cinder doing the same. Ace then landed in front of the two as Mia walked forward into the cave.

"Is this where you live?" Sunset asked out of curiosity.

"No, this is actually where Mia lives." Ace told Sunset. The cave was actually fairly big with a set of beds on the far wall on the left. There was also a TV on the right with furniture in front of it, a carpet in the center, and a makeshift kitchen on the left.

"This seems a little small of a cave for a Grimm." Cinder commented. At that moment, a bright light came from behind the three.

"Well, there is a reason for that." Mia said, her voice sounding more human like. Sunset and Cinder turned around to see not a Nevermore, but a raven Faunus standing where Mia was. The faunus was wearing a black shirt, white shorts, and black sneakers. On her back was a pair of white wings and all around her body was blue markings.

"Mia, is that you?" Sunset asked out of surprise.

"That it is and I can see that some explanations are in order." Mia said with a smile.

"We should get inside before we do that." Ace chimed in. No one argued that statement as everyone entered the cave. When they entered the cave, Ace immediately walked over to the TV area and sat down in one of the chairs. "Come on, we can sit here for right now." Ace said as she motioned at Sunset and Cinder.

"You better have some of the best stories to tell us if you decided to show up now after being gone for the past year." Cinder said as she sat down.

"I do have something to talk about, but I don't think that I've properly introduced myself to someone of the Council." Ace said with a slight smile. Sunset sighed after Ace said that.

"Do I really have to do this?" Sunset sighed.

"We don't have too, but I kind of want to hear what your title is." Ace said.

"As long as that is what you want, I'm all for it." Sunset said.

"If you don't mind me asking, what titles are you referring to?" Mia asked as she brought some drinks over.

"Everyone part of the White Fang Council has a title and an alias granted to them that they can go by." Ace said.

"To give an example, my alias is Fall and my title is the 'Fall's Flame'." Cinder explained.

"I'm going to guess that they relate to what you do in the White Fang." Mia said.

"Exactly, and I believe I've told you this before, but to be on the safe side, remember to keep quiet about this." Ace told Mia. Mia responded by nodding in agreement to what Ace said.

"Why would you tell her to be quiet?" Sunset asked curiously.

"Well, there are times when I go out to Vale just to get away from home. It gets boring out here a lot of the time." Mia said. Sunset simply nodded as she understood where Mia was coming from.

"Anyway, I suppose to introduce myself to you Ace. My name is Flare and I am known in the council as 'The Blazing General'." Sunset said.

"'The Blazing General', I like it." Ace said.

"Now what about you?" Sunset said.

"Nice of you to ask, my name is Joker and I'm known as 'The Wild Wind'." Ace responded.

"I'm guessing your style of command is a bit different that what I'm used to." Sunset commented.

"It sure is a unique one, I'll tell you that. There's a reason why my alias and title are what they are after all." Ace said with a proud smirk. Sunset simply smiled as she knew what she was talking about.

"So, I believe that you have a story to tell." Cinder said.

"That I do and I would say that it's a bit of a story that you have heard before Cinder." Ace said. Cinder thought about that statement before sighing.

"Are you really going to talk about the Freelancers again?" Cinder asked in a somewhat annoyed voice. Upon hearing the word Freelancers, Sunset's ears perked up.

"Well, I don't think Sunset wants to hear me ramble on about them. Instead, I have some new things to talk about." Ace said as she brought out her scroll.

"And what is this new information if I may ask?" Cinder asked in a not so energetic voice.

"How about one of the documents that was made for the formation of Project Freelancer?" Ace responded. Cinder tossed that over in her head before noticing Sunset's expression.

"Does she always get like this?" Sunset questioned as she noticed some stars in Ace's eyes.

"Project Freelancer is something like a pastime to her, she is always looking for any information on the thing." Cinder told Sunset.

"By the way Sunset, thanks for getting these encrypted files for me." Ace casually commented. Cinder then looked at Sunset with a deadpan stare.

"Wait, what files are you talking about?" Sunset inquired.

"The one that you and your friends got for your initiation mission." Ace said. Sunset then realized what Ace was talking about and immediately started to think of possibilities on how she would know about those files. "Before you ask anymore, all will be explained after I show you this." Ace told the two. Sunset simply sighed as she let Ace go on. "Very well then, this is one of the video files from the formation of the Project Freelancer." Ace said as she connected her Scroll to the TV and the video started to play.

* * *

 _On the TV screen, it showed a person in shadows sitting in front of a desk. "Hello there my Freelancers, I am the founder of this Project and I am the one who will be giving you report to. Though I will not give you my name, you may simply refer to me as King. Before we get you all started on your first mission, I want to go over something."_

 _After King said that, a list of symbols replace the image of him. "These are the symbols that your code names have been based off of. You each have been assigned a code name as well as a symbol that is on your armor. You should all do well to remember these as I will expect you to know these for communication purposes. As for what you address each other as, I will not enforce you all to use your code names on missions but it's advised that you do to keep your names a secret."_

 _After saying that, the list disappeared. "Now then, I just have a few more things to say before you start your mission. First is that there are other soldiers here other than you 24. They are here simply to see if we can add more members to your group and for smaller scale missions. Second, this place is your home and you are more than welcome to relax here between assignments. Lastly, we ask that you keep this a secret from those who ask. That is all I have to say for now, good luck Freelancers." Upon finishing that sentence, the screen went dark and the video ended._

* * *

After the video finished, Ace got up and got her scroll from its place on the TV. "So, that is what you wanted to show us?" Cinder asked.

"Yep, ever since I left, I've been trying to find leads on Project Freelancer. It was only up until recently that I found this file." Ace explained.

"Out of curiosity, where did you find the file?" Mia questioned.

"Well, I think Sunset might know the answer to that." Ace said with a smug grin on her face. Sunset simply nodded in response to that question.

"She is right, I do know where the file came from." Sunset said as she stood up. As she did, Sunset reached behind her back and put a hand on her one of her blades. "Before that however, why do you have Tempest's weapon with you?" Sunset questioned in a hostile tone.

"Sunset, calm down. While I don't know what your relationship is with Tempest, but you should really be careful when provoking Ace." Cinder said as she stayed seated.

"She is right, but to answer your question Sunset, I think it would be best if I showed you." Ace said as Mia went to go somewhere.

"What do you mean by that?" Sunset asked as Ace stood up.

"Believe it or not, Tempest and I have a very close relationship." Ace said as she walked towards the middle of the room.

"Then why do you have her weapons?" Sunset asked. Before Ace could respond, Mia walked up between the two of them and gave Ace a signal.

"Ah good, you had it prepared ahead of time?" Ace asked Mia.

"Yeah, I had a feeling you might want to tell people about it sometime soon." Mia said as she walked over to the far wall from the entrance. Before Sunset could say anything, Cinder got up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, I know you want to know about your friend, but let's let Ace explain herself." Cinder told Sunset. Sunset hesitated for a moment before sighing and putting her hand down.

"Fine, but if I find out that you did something to her, you'll be in trouble." Sunset said.

"Fair enough, now follow me." Ace said as she walked over to where Mia was. As they walked over, Mia pressed on a portion of the wall and it opened revealing a secret passage. The passage was a hallway that continued further into the mountain. Sunset and Cinder were surprised, but just decided to roll with it.

"I take it you all have seen your share of secret passageways?" Mia asked. The three of them nodded yes before heading down the hallway. Mia entered last and closed the passage behind her.

* * *

The four continued to walk down the dark hallway, the only light source being a flashlight that Mia gave to Ace. "So, what is exactly at the end of this hallway?" Sunset asked Ace.

"To be honest, I don't know how to describe it. It's honestly better if you see it for yourself." Ace responded. Sunset was about to ask again until a light came into view. "Come on, it's at the end of the hall." Ace said as she walked forward. The others followed her to the end of the hall and entered the room after a few seconds of walking. The room that they entered was a room that seemed both natural and manmade at the same time. The room had natural windows that let sunlight in and was made of rocks and natural gems of various different colors making up various parts of the floor, walls, and ceiling. It also had a big computer that took up the far wall, an small room completely made up of white, reflective gems, several tables, chairs, and couches all around the room, and various amounts of TV and other electronics.

"Ok, I can see why you couldn't describe it. This place is beautiful." Cinder said as she looked around.

"Yeah, apparently Mia knows what this place is. However, she refuses to tell me about it because of her own reasons." Ace commented.

"Hey, as much as I like you, you're not ready for this one yet." Mia said as walked forward and sat down in one of the chairs.

"Ok, so how does all of this relate to Tempest?" Sunset asked in a threatening tone. Ace stayed quiet for a moment as she thought about what to say.

"I am you and you are me. Does that sound familiar to you Cinder?" Ace said as she walked up to the small room.

"That is a phrase that you told yourself a lot if I recall correctly." Cinder said.

"That's right, do you remember why I used to say that?" Ace asked as she turned around to face the two.

"Just get to the point already." Sunset said. Ace simply smiled as she pulled out a small disk that had a symbol of a yin-yang on it colored cyan and white.

"I recognise that disk, you've had it with you ever since you joined the White Fang. What does that thing do anyway?" Cinder said.

"Just watch." Ace said as she put the disk on her brace. When she did, a voice announced " **Gemini Disk Set! Ready to go?** "as two lights on the brace lit up, one cyan and one white. Ace then walked into the clear room and pointed the brace at the ground. When she did, a light enveloped her and transformed her into a ball of light.

"What the heck?" Sunset said as she saw the spectacle in front of her. As Sunset said that, the ball of light split in half and started to separate in two directions. The left half started to turn white while the right turned cyan. After a few seconds the halfs dissipated and both Ace and Tempest were standing in the room. The two looked at each other for a moment before smiling and walking out of the room.

"Ah, I think I understand now." Cinder said as she saw the two of them walk out of the room.

"I'm just going to take a wild guess here and say multiple personalities." Sunset said, a bit dumbfounded.

"A little bit, but it'll have to wait for a moment." Tempest said as she walked in front of Sunset. Sunset was quiet for a moment as Tempest just stood in front of her. "Just do it, I know you want to." Tempest told Sunset as Ace stood behind her. Sunset stayed silent for a moment before looking at Tempest with a hard look. She then punched her as hard in the gut as she could, sending Tempest back a little.

"I feel better now." Sunset said, her sour tone from earlier completely gone.

"I kind of deserved that one." Tempest said as she breathed in some air.

"Yeah, so now I believe explanations are in order." Mia said from her seat. Everyone simply nodded as they walked to an area where they could talk.

* * *

After a few minutes of getting set up and waiting, Tempest brought tea for everyone to drink. "Thank you Tempest, I didn't know you could make tea." Cinder said in a kind, calm voice.

"You're welcome, I actually learned this while we were in the White Fang. I can tell you right now that Ace did not have a fun time learning that." Tempest said

"I will admit that it wasn't a pleasant experience, but I did end up liking the taste." Ace commented.

"So, you were going to explain things to us?" Sunset asked. Tempest and Ace looked for each other for a moment before Tempest spoke up.

"We will, but first let me say that I'm sorry for not telling you the whole truth about the meeting." Tempest told Sunset.

"Don't worry about it. I did get annoyed with Ace, but I can see why you wouldn't want to talk about it. Something like the fact that you have a split personality is not something that you want to talk about publicly." Sunset commented.

"Anyway, where did you want to start with the explanations?" Ace asked. Cinder and Sunset were silent for a moment as they thought about what to ask.

"How about how the time when you three first met each other?" Cinder responded.

"That would be a good place to start I suppose, but there is a problem there." Mia said.

"What would that problem be?" Sunset asked curiously.

"You see, while we me and Tempest remember when we first met Mia and each other, the in-between bits are kind of hazy." Ace said.

"These two apparently have very hazy memories up until they first met me. From what I can tell, it's more of the memories being somewhat repressed rather than amnesia." Mia explained.

"Well, what do you two recall about meeting each other in that case?" Sunset asked.

"From what we can remember, the two of us first met in a lab. I can't remember what we were there for, but I'm pretty sure it was important." Ace started before looking at Tempest.

"After that, we can only remember some things and events but nothing major until we met Mia." Tempest finished.

"I found them I would say about 5 years ago just after that new person took leadership of the White Fang. They were on the edge of the forest, both in really bad shape with Tempest having these black and red markings on her." Mia said. When Mia finished talking, Cinder and Sunset looked at each other for a moment which Ace noticed and held her hand up to signal quiet to Tempest and Mia.

"Do you think it's the same?" Sunset asked Cinder in a low voice.

"It's possible, but I doubt it." Cinder responded.

"Do you two know something about those markings?" Tempest questioned. Sunset was silent for a moment before sighing and putting her cup down.

"We do, but it's going to be a bit hard to explain." Sunset said as she stood up.

"In that case, should we continue with our explanation before we do anything else?" Ace suggested.

"I believe that would be for the best, because I'm still curious on how you two are able to separate." Cinder said.

"Well, that was a bit of a tricky thing to figure out for ourselves, but it's all thanks to this thing that we're able to do it in the first place." Ace said as she held up her brace.

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that myself. What exactly does that bracelet do for you two?" Sunset asked as she thought about something.

"It does various things, however for this explanation, all you know is that it recognises disks and has a different effect depending on the one slotted in." Tempest explained.

"So, the Gemini Disk you have in there separates the two of you into two bodies?" Cinder asked.

"Yes and no, it's a bit tricky to explain. Basically, what the Gemini Disk is supposed to do is simply make a copy of the person using it. However, this room made something interesting happen to the disk and to the both of us." Ace continued.

"Yeah, without this room, there is no guarantee that I would be the same person you see before you." Tempest admitted in a somewhat ominous tone as she shuddered.

"What do you mean by that?" Cinder inquired curiously. Tempest looked to Mia who simply nodded as she sighed.

"I think it would be easier to show you." Tempest said as she stood up. As she did, she earned a shocked look from Ace as she walked towards the room.

"Tempest, you're not actually thinking about doing that are you?" Ace asked in a tense tone.

"What are you talking about?" Sunset questioned. Tempest stopped walking for a moment before sighing ind turning around.

"Before saying anything else, I guess Mia should properly introduce herself if we are going to do this." Tempest said before looking at Mia. Mia simply nodded before turning the the now standing Sunset and Cinder.

"What she said is true, while I did give you an introduction before, it was not a proper introduction. The only reason I didn't make it is because I didn't it is because I wanted to see if you were trustworthy." Mia said as she bowed slightly. Sunset was slightly confused as to what Mia was referring to, but Cinder walked forward to confirm something.

"If I may ask, are you one of the Watchers?" Cinder inquired. Mia was surprised at Cinder's question, but smiled as if she was relieved.

"I admit, I am a little surprised that you know of us. That being said, my full name is Mia Hikari, one of the twelve Grimm Watchers of this world." Mia said with a bow.

"Sorry for seeming like I don't know anything, but what are the Grimm Watchers?" Sunset asked curiously.

"The Watchers are a group of 12 Grimm that watch over the world, waiting for something. What that something is exactly, only the Watchers know." Cinder said.

"And before you ask, she hasn't told me or Ace about what that something is at all." Tempest commented.

"Ok, so what does that have to do with Tempest and her condition?" Sunset questioned.

"Well, I think that it would be easier to show you." Tempest said as she walked into the clear room. As soon as she did, she reached up and brought down a very well hidden door to close the opening she entered in.

"Tempest, are you sure that you want to go through with this?" Ace asked in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, after all, I know that you can cover for me." Tempest told Ace. Ace was about to interject, but Mia put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Don't worry too much, that room is very sturdy. Not only that, but I have done some things since you two last visited." Mia said. Ace simply sighed as Mia walked forward. "Tempest, are you ready?" Mia asked. Tempest nodded in response, which gave Mia the cue to close her eyes and hold her hands out. As she did so, a glowing red circle appeared in front of her hands as energy flowed out of it into a room, which Sunset instantly recognised.

"Magic?" Sunset said in a low voice. Ace shot Sunset a glance, but said nothing as she watched the scene in front of her. As the energy flowed into the room, Tempest keeled to the ground as a wave of pain flowed into her. Those outside the room saw this followed soon by several black markings crawling along Tempest's exposed skin. After a few seconds, Tempest let out a scream of pain that sounded more like a primal howl. As if responding to the howl, the energy around the room covered Tempest's body, completely enveloping it in a red light.

"You're sure she's going to be ok?" Cinder asked Ace and Mia as she felt the sheer power coming from the room.

"She said she has been working on suppressing the power, but I don't know if it's going to help." Ace said as energy stopped flowing from Mia's hands.

"It should be finished, now we just have to wait." Mia commented as she sighed.

"Wait for what to happen?" Sunset questioned cautiously. As if on cue, the energy faded away and Tempest stood up with her head pointed down. When Cinder and Sunset saw Tempest, they were shocked at what they saw. Where there had once been a fair skinned girl now stood a human like figure with gray skin and purple lines along parts of the skin, gray wings, and white bone like pieces of armor on key points of her body, like her chest, legs, arms and waist area. When she tilted her head to look at everyone, here eyes were a dark purple and some fangs were poking from her mouth.

"This is what she was talking about." Tempest said in a more distorted and strained voice, as if she was actively trying to keep something at bay. Sunset and Cinder looked on in shock as Ace and Mia were surprised at what they saw.

"Wow, you really have gotten a handle on this power. I've never see you like this before." Mia said, impressed by what she saw.

"Tempest, is that you?" Sunset asked through that shock.

"Yep, I imagine you're a bit surprised?" Tempest responded.

"More like very surprised. How do you keep a check on that thing?" Sunset questioned. Tempest was about to give an answer until Ace spoke for her.

"It's because of me, having two people in the same body does have its drawbacks, but that's not to say that it has its benefits as well." Ace told Sunset.

"Cinder, is this not freaking you out at all?" Sunset asked. As she looked over at Cinder, she saw that she was in front of one of the walls to the room talking to Tempest. "Of course she would be intrigued by all this." Sunset said as she held her head in her hands.

"She certainly is jumping at the opportunity. That being said, I don't think Tempest will be able to stay conscious that much longer. In this form, her strength is constantly being drained to keep herself together and sane. Although she is holding it back, it's taking a lot of her strength to keep it at bay." Ace mentioned.

"Makes sense, and I can imagine that since the two of you are seperate, whatever is inside her is draining her strength that much faster." Sunset commented.

"Speaking of, I wonder if she's ready to head back." Ace said as she walked forward. As Sunset was about to follow her, she felt a pulse come from her right arm. Sunset quickly looked down and saw that the gauntlet was glowing slightly.

" _That is something it's never done before. What does it mean and why is it doing it now?_ " Sunset thought to herself as she looked back up. When she did so, she noticed Mia channeling blue energy into the room and Tempest kneeling down on the floor. Sunset walked forward next to Cinder to watch the process and saw that her skin was changing back to normal.

"It's amazing, apparently she has something inside of her that she's holding back. From what I was able to gather, she said it was an ancient and powerful being." Cinder said quietly, looking directly at Sunset on that last bit. Sunset shook her head as she understood what Cinder was talking about as the energy faded from Tempest.

"Ok, so just to make sure, you're in complete control Tempest?" Mia questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tempest said as she breathed in and out.

"You ready to join back together?" Ace asked.

"Yeah, take control for the rest of the day. I need to rest." Tempest said as she reached for her brace and removed her Gemini Disk. When she did, her form changed to a cyan light and floated out of the room and back into Ace. Ace sighed as it happened and shook a little.

"I take it that it's a weird feeling?" Sunset asked curiously.

"Completely weird, never get used to it." Ace said as she shook the feeling off. As Sunset looked around quickly, she yawned as she saw the sun begin to set.

"Wow, we've been here a while haven't we?" Sunset said through her yawn.

"Yeah, we probably get back to Beacon." Cinder said as she started to walk towards the door. Mia and Ace nodded as the four of them walked back into the hallway.

* * *

After arriving back in the main room, Mia headed out to the main balcony and changed back into her Grimm form. "It's going to take a few minutes to get the harness set up, we'll go when it's set up." Ace said as she went to go set up the harness on Mia, leaving Sunset and Cinder alone.

"So, what do you think is inside Tempest?" Sunset asked Cinder.

"Honestly, I have very little clues to go on, but it's obviously some kind of dark force." Cinder said.

"Gee, I couldn't tell what gave you that idea." Sunset mumbled as she looked down. When she did, she noticed the rug they were standing on and a very familiar design to her on it. The design was clock like with circles being where the hours would normally be. The part that made the design feel familiar to Sunset was that fact that each of the circles was a different color and had a a symbol on each one. "Hey Mia, what does the design on this rug mean?" Sunset asked curiously. Mia, in her Grimm form, looked over and saw the rug.

"I don't know, it was here before I arrived." Mia said truthfully.

"Why do you ask Sunset?" Ace questioned curiously. Sunset was silent for a moment as she thought about why.

"It's just that the design on this is familiar to me, but I don't remember why?" Sunset said as she put a hand to her head. Cinder took a look at the rug for a moment and recalled something about the symbols.

"These symbols… don't they represent the Ancient Grimm?" Cinder asked. When Cinder said that, Mia looked up at Mia with a look of realization.

"You're right." Mia said as she recalled something.

"Well, the harness is ready. If you want to continue this conversation, the capsule is set up so Mia can hear you in the seat and respond. Don't ask how it works, we're still figuring it out." Ace said as she flew up and opened seat. Cinder and Sunset got in the seat and got strapped in. As they were getting ready to continue talking, Ace flew next the them and hovered there for a sec. "Mind if I hop in? I kind of want to hear this." Ace asked. Sunset and Cinder simply gave a thumbs up which Ace took as a cue to hop in, change into her human body and close the hatch. Mia took off shortly after hearing the hatch close.

"So, how much do you know about the Ancient Grimm?" Cinder asked Mia.

"Being completely honest, not much other than what all other Grimm know. The Ancient Grimm were a powerful group consisting of 12 Grimm that existed long before any of us have existed. I guess you could call them the first real hurdle that mankind had to overcome. They were also not like the Grimm you all know today in the sense that they we all very intelligent with their own personalities. Another big difference is that they each were in command with an element, similar to the Elemental Semblances we know of today. The Elements were fire, water, electricity, earth, wind, ice, light, shadow, space, time, and two others that focus more on the ferocity and elegance of all the others respectively.

With these powers, you would think mankind as we know it would be wiped out. However, like the old saying goes, there can never be dark without light. To combat the Ancient Grimm, there were the Guardians, 12 humans with powers similar to the Ancient Grimm. With their help, humanity rose up and defeated the Ancient Grimm. After they were defeated, the Guardians mysteriously vanished and left humanity to create their own future."

After Mia finished talking, the people in the pod were silent as they processed what they were told. "To think that's what happened all those years ago." Ace commented.

"How do you know for sure that is what happened?" Sunset asked.

"The story has been passed down through my home village for generations." Mia told Sunset.

"I second what she said, only because I have been researching the Ancient Grimm myself." Cinder commented.

"Look, I'm not one to talk about discrediting or things not being true, but I'm just saying that it might not be the full story." Sunset said. Mia was silent for a moment as she thought of that.

"That might be true, but it's all the information I know. What I'm more curious about is how you know that symbol Sunset." Mia told Sunset.

"I just said it looked familiar." Sunset said with a huff. There was silence among the group as Sunset thought about her words. "Although, I will admit that when I saw it, I got this strange feeling." Sunset said.

"What kind of feeling?" Ace questioned.

"The best way to describe it would be to compare it to an inferno. A blazing hot feeling that feels like it could break out at any moment." Sunset said as she put a hand on her chest. Mia was silent for a moment as she thought about what she just heard.

"You've mentioned this feeling to me a few times before. Any idea what it could mean?" Cinder said as she thought of a few things.

"No, but I'm honestly scared of it." Sunset said.

"That's good, now that you know about it, you can work on learning what it is and controlling it." Ace said with a smile.

"You might be right Ace." Sunset said as she was lost in thought.

"From what I can recall, I don't remember anything that might cause that." Mia told Sunset. Cinder quietly put her hand to her sign as she noted something in Mia's voice. Before she could comment, Mia started to descend. "We're almost there." Mia said.

"Ok, so what is going to happen with you Ace?" Sunset asked before a light flashed next to her. She noticed the light and turned to see Tempest sitting next to her.

"Before you ask, it's me Ace." Ace told Sunset. Sunset quickly processed the sight in front of her before responding.

"What?" Sunset asked, her brain struggling to understand what she just saw.

"Tempest and I can swap our appearances, which also gives us access to the other's physical abilities." Ace explained.

"Here I was thinking you were a master of disguise and infiltration." Cinder said with a sly smile.

"I mean, I definitely am a master of infiltration." Ace said with a smile as Mia landed.

"Ok, we're back at the base." Mia said as Sunset opened up the hatch. The people in the pod then hopped out and turned back to Mia.

"Thanks for the favor Mia, I'll be sure to pay you back." Ace told Mia.

"No need this time, this little visit gave me somethings to think about." Mia responded.

"Well, I must say that it was an honor to meet one of the Grimm Guardians." Cinder said as she gave a bow. Sunset did the same and as she did, Mia shot Ace a quick glance. Ace noticed the glance and nodded in response.

"Well I must be on my way, I have some things to take care of." Mia said as she flapped her wings, kicking up some wind beneath her as she took to the air. Cinder held down her dress as the wind picked up and all three waved good-bye as Mia left the area.

"She seemed nice." Sunset said as she turned to leave. When she was getting to the edge of the clearing, a jolt went through her as she quickly looked around the area.

"Is something wrong Sunset?" Cinder asked as she approached her.

"I don't know, I just get the feeling that someone is watching us." Sunset said as she was on alert. Cinder put a hand to her chin as she thought about that.

"Think it would be part of the White Fang from Haven?" Cinder said with a slight sneer. Sunet simply sighed as Cinder said that.

"I had a feeling that you would know, but how did you find out that it was me?" Sunset questioned.

"Of course I would find out about the theft and the fact that you disappeared right after got me suspicious. However, I'm more curious as to why you did it." Cinder said as she crossed her arms. Sunset sighed as she leaned against a nearby tree.

"You should know why if you remembered my behavior at the time." Sunset said simply. Cinder was about to respond when Ace walked up to them.

"Sorry about the wait, I was taking care of something." Ace told Sunset. Cinder looked at Sunset for a moment before turning to Ace.

"It's fine, we were just having a chat." Cinder lied. Ace quickly glanced at Sunset and nodded in understanding.

"Ok, so shall we get going then?" Ace asked. Sunset nodded and the three left the clearing. From a distance, Mia watch them leave the clearing an she hovered there.

" _I hope that this feeling that I have is wrong. If it isn't then we might have a ticking time bomb on our hands._ " Mia thought before she flew off. From a nearby cliff, a figure in a hood silently watched as the three walked off. They said nothing and stood there for a moment before opening a portal of light and darkness beneath him and falling into it, the portal closing soon after he left.


End file.
